! BRj & SSHSiSlg 


[ VG 470 


.G46 


Copy 1 








K ! HI! gttiu. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.! 






PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 



NAVAL HYGIENE 



ALBERT LEARY GIHON, A. M., M. D., 

SURGEON UNITED STATES NAVY, MEMBER OF THE NAVAI. MEDICAL BOARD- 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
I 87 I . 



C^ 1 " 



William Maxwell Wood, Esq., M. D., 

Surgeon General, United States Navy, 

Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 

Navy Department : 
Sir : I beg leave to submit to your consideration the following 
suggestions of a code of sanitary regulations for the Navy of the 
United States. The preliminary remarks on the various subjects 
that come within the scope of Naval Hygiene are intended 
chiefly for medical officers who have just entered the service. 
Since their professional education is presumed to have been com- 
pleted, I have not considered it requisite to repeat facts that are 
fully elucidated in works on physiology, nor even to discuss the 
general principles of hygiene. I have merely attempted to show 
that the peculiar circumstances of life on shipboard, to which they 
are as yet strangers, do not necessitate a violation of all the laws 
of health. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Albert Leary Gihon, M. D., 

Surgeon, U. S. Navy. 
Philadelphia, October i, 1871. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The following letter from Dr. Ruschenberger lends such coun- 
tenance to the author's suggestions, that he is confident, if any 
apology be needed for his presumption in attempting to plow up 
a field hitherto so neglected, it will be found in the indorsement 
it has received from an officer of such distinguished professional 
and scientific reputation : 

U. S. Naval Hospital, 

Philadelphia, October 2, 1871. 
Dear Doctor: Your manuscript essay, " Practical Suggestions 
in Naval Hygiene," which you kindly submitted to my perusal, 
I have read with much satisfaction. In my humble judgment 
you have executed your self-imposed task in a manner to entitle 
you to the praise and thanks of all who are interested in securing 
for the nation an efficient naval service. You will not expect to 
see your suggestions adopted at once. But you may reasonably 
hope that, by the time those young aspirants for renown in the 
Navy, who are now just entering the Naval Academy, are 
captains and commodores, the truths which you set forth so well 
will come to be considered worthy of attention, A nail is not 
usually driven home by a single blow, nor is a thought commu- 
nicated and made common among men of any class by a single 
publication. Frequent and successive blows force the nail to its 
position. Repeated presentation of facts and ideas in various 
aspects has to be made to induce the common and heedless mind 
to receive them. Clergymen are not led to abandon their work 
because of the extremely scanty harvest which accrues from their 
weekly preaching. We ought not to be induced to refrain from 
our efforts to prove that the crews of our public ships can be 
longer preserved in vigorous health and efficiency by observing 



Introductory . 



the laws of sanitary science than they ever have been under mere 
quarter-deck authority, exercised by men whose wisdom, learning, 
and training seem not to qualify them to justly appreciate all the 
circumstances which influence the health and happiness of their 
fellow-citizens, crowded together within the very narrow limits of 
a ship, rolled and tossed about under control of almost autocratic 
power. 

I hope your essay may be speedily placed before the service in 
an attractive form, and be received with the respect and com- 
mendation which it deserves from all sedately-thinking readers. 

I offer thanks for the pleasure which the perusal of your man- 
uscript has afforded to, 

Very respectfully, your friend and obedient servant, 

W. S. W. RUSCHENBERGER. 

Dr. A. L. Gihon, 

Surgeon U. S. Navy, Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS 



Page. 

I. The Province of Naval Hygiene 9 

II. The Examination of Recruits 12 

III, The Receiving-Ship 28 

IV. Navy-Yards 32 

V. Humidity 39 

VI. Ventilation...- 47 

VII. Light 58 

VIII. Clothing . 61 

IX. Personal Cleanliness , 67 

X. Food 70 

XL Potable Water 84 

XII. Sleep , 94 

XIII. Exercise 98 

XIV. Climatic Influences J~. 103 

XV. Moral Influences 118 

XVI. The Sick-Bay 133 

X^IL Sanitary Regulations for the Navy , 140 

XV1IL Sanitary Regulations for Transports 149 



PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS 

IN 

N AVA L HYGIENE. 



THE PROVINCE OF NAVAL HYGIENE. 



Notwithstanding the general knowledge of the fact that the 
better mode of relieving human flesh of the ills to which it is 
heir is to prevent them, very little is done toward lessening the 
amount of physical suffering among mankind. Not only are 
individuals improvident of health, but public communities neg- 
lect precautions that would avert many attacks of disease ; and 
even governments, having control of armies and navies, are 
unmindful of preventive measures which would diminish the 
expense and promote the efficiency of these bodies. 

It ought to be unnecessary to urge the importance of naval 
hygiene. If it be so requisite to study what to do and what to 
leave undone on shore, where everything demanded for the 
healthy maintenance of the body is in abundance, how much 
more strictly ought the laws of health to be observed on board 
ship, where human beings are crowded together in violation of 
all these laws, breathing a scanty supply of air vitiated by the 
retention of their own excretions, subsisting upon an unwhole- 
some diet, their sleep always interrupted, and their minds contin- 
ually disquieted by passions called into operation by the unnat- 
ural circumstances of their lives. Yet no sanitary code has ever 
been promulgated in our own service, nor, until recent years, has 
it been attempted elsewhere. The young medical officer is with- 
out a guide. As much confused by the manners of those around 
him as by the maze of rigging overhead, he credits whatever he 
is told and accepts, " it is the custom of the service," as palliating 
whatever appears barbarou-s and unnatural 



i o The Province of Naval Hygiene. 

The same cause that has retarded the influence of civil 
hygiene has prevented the institution of sanitary regulations for 
the Navy. The real character and mission of the physician have 
not been recognized. He is regarded solely as a medicine-man, 
and there is a general rebellion against his authority when he 
prescribes to the well what they shall eat and drink, how they 
shall live, dress, and sleep, how their houses should be built, their 
lands tilled, and their food cooked. The public mind does not 
rise to the comprehension of the extent of province of our great 
profession. The scientific medical man is at most regarded as an 
" allopath," a sectarian amid globulistic and rational homoeo- 
paths, Thompsonians, and Swedish-movement curers.. 

The naval surgeon has had his domain still further retrenched. 
Despite the radical changes which time has effected in the service, 
there are still many who affect a deafness to his warnings through 
a fear lest the medical officer transcend his position. Traditional 
jealousies and w^ant of confidence have been perpetuated. Some 
narrow-minded officers, cherishing this feeling of caste, use their 
power to resist what they pretend to consider encroachments 
upon their jurisdiction. Over the country are distributed the 
victims of this system, and many a grave has been untimely filled 
through inattention to sanitary recommendations. Every national 
vessel arriving at our naval sea-ports brings a number of invalid 
men and officers ; the business of the naval hospitals is dispro- 
portionate to the size of the naval establishment; and this sacri- 
fice of life and money will continue " until physicians have the 
place in the councils of military commanders that is due to 
science. The health history of the late wars in Europe is demon 
strative in proof of the important fact that military life has been 
sacrificed in an enormous proportion to ignorance- — that is, to the 
unwillingness of commanders to be advised on subjects which 
they could not themselves be supposed to know." — (Robert 
Jackson.) " From the neglect of the precautions specified, 
thousands of lives have been sacrificed which might otherwise 
have been preserved. The care of the health of the troops 
should certainly be one of the first duties c f a military commander. 



The Province of Naval Hygiene. 1 1 

Unless his men are in good physical condition they can be of no 
service to him in carrying out the ends he may have in view, but 
are a hinderance to him and a burden to themselves. And yet 
how often it happens that those in command are heedless of the 
warnings and inattentive to the advice given by their medical 
officers." — (Hammond.) "It is urgently necessary that the 
influence of enlightened medical opinion be more and more felt 
in the administration of the Navy in all matters relating to 
health, for costly blunders still continue to be committed in the 
construction and arrangement of our ships of war, which 
seriously injure the efficiency, of the crew, and which might be 
easily effected if every ship were thoroughly examined by a sani- 
tary officer before she was commissioned. One of our iron-clads 
the Royal Oak, was found to be a most unhealthy vessel from 
first going to sea, and thrice had she to be inspected by a sani- 
tary board before her high sick-rate was reduced. And this is 
but one of many similar instances that might be adduced."- — 
{Medico- Chirurgical Review?) 

The naval authorities of Great Britain and France have already 
acted toward the establishment of sanitary codes. The medical 
officers of our own service, therefore, would be delinquent in de- 
laying longer to obtain the sanction of the Department to their 
recommendations, and that indorsement of authority which will 
secure their observance. In this let us disclaim any purpose of 
interference with any other corps. Cheerfully recognizing our 
obligations of obedience to the commanding officer and constitu- 
ted authorities, we have no desire to do anything that is foreign 
to our calling as physicians. The sacred character of our profes- 
sion bestows such honorable and enviable distinction and dignity 
upon its followers, that we need not seek to encroach upon the 
functions of others. We, therefore, demand that our motives in 
making these suggestions may be no longer impugned ; but that 
our efforts to accomplish the legitimate objects of our vocation 
may be generously assisted by the other corps, that our common 
aim — the honor and efficiency of the service — may be attained. 



THE EXAMINATION OF RECRUITS. 



The province of naval hygiene begins at the recruiting-office. 
To banish disease from shipboard as effectually as possible, it is 
as necessary to guard against its admission within the bodies of 
the officers and men themselves as to prevent its development 
among them, just as the attempt to extirpate the syphilis of the 
public prostitutes of large cities is fruitless so long as men who 
are themselves affected are allowed access to them. Hence the 
importance of carefully guarding this avenue to disease. With 
the medical corps rests the entire responsibility of selecting the 
personnel of the Navy. The various grades of officers are ex- 
amined prior to appointment by special medical boards, while 
the medical officer of the rendezvous is charged with the exami- 
nation of all applicants for the subordinate positions of shipped 
and enlisted men in the Navy and Marine Corps, and with the 
rejection of all who are unfit for these branches of the service, 
whether on account of existing acute or chronic disease or de- 
formity, or constitutional taint, infirmity, predisposition, or inherit- 
ance, physical or mental. Could this duty be always performed 
with rigid exactness, sick-lists would consist only of acute mala- 
dies and injuries; but, unfortunately, all the cachexias are repre- 
sented on our medical returns. Many of these latent seeds of 
disease are hidden beyond the ken of the most acute observer; 
still there is reason to complain of the superficial manner in which 
these examinations are often conducted. It is not unusual for a 
man discharged with a certificate of ordinary disability from a 
naval hospital to re-appear at that hospital within a few weeks, 
either from the receiving-ship or from some vessel to which he 
had been transferred and found unfit for duty. A second dis- 
charge has been followed by reshipment at another station. Most 



The Examination of Recruits. 1 3 

of these cases wait until their arrival at a foreign port, and then 
present themselves with chronic and incurable maladies, for which 
they have to be invalided, and sent, at great expense, to a naval 
hospital in the United States, perhaps the very one they had left. 
Dr. Ruschenberger " sent a man home from on board of the United 
States ship Falmouth, at Rio de Janeiro, who twice imposed him- 
self upon the recruiting officers with a fistula in perineo of several 
years' standing, for which he had been unsuccessfully treated at 
several civil hospitals." There are men who have passed years 
in the service in this way, without having ever completed a cruise. 
Haemorrhois, prolapsus ani, fistulae, reducible hernia, stricture of 
the urethra, functional cardiac diseases, syphilis, and chronic 
rheumatism are the complaints which are most frequently thus al- 
ternately concealed and reported. It is not presumed that all 
such cases can be exposed at the rendezvous, but greater care 
and minuteness of examination would reveal many of them, and 
the establishment of dynamometric tests would discover the 
greater number, as well as convalescents from exhausting diseases. 
Thus, it would have prevented the shipment of a man with 
chronic luxation of the head of the humerus, whom I have en- 
countered three or four times in the service, and who, while able 
to perforin the usual movements of the shoulder-joint, could not 
accomplish violent circumduction without displacing the bone. 
Dr. Magruder, of the Iroquois, now fitting at the Philadelphia 
navy-yard for a cruise in the East Indies, informs me that he has 
had to transfer to the hospital, with phthisis pulmonalis, a recruit 
whom he found to have been surveyed and discharged from the 
service only eight months prior to his reshipment \ and states 
that there are two other cases of incipient phthisis and one of the 
developed disease already on his list, although the ship has been 
but a few days in commission. A few years ago, a man who nad 
recently shipped was discharged from the New York Naval 
Hospital with double inguinal hernia, which he confessed to have 
had five years; and among a list of forty-seven cases of pulmo- 
nary tubercle then in the hospital, (i860,) twenty-three had been 



14 The Examination of Recruits. 

in the service but a few weeks, and in most of these there was 
not a doubt that the early stages of the disease, or the tendency 
to its development, were positively indicated at the time of ship- 
ment by local physical signs or by evidences of constitutional 
impairment. Chronic rheumatism and subluxations are more 
difficult of detection, but even these can seldom perfectly dissem- 
ble all the abnormal actions of their articulations. 

As a further check to the admission of disqualified men into the 
service, it is necessary to particularize descriptive lists, to specify 
and locate exactly every ineffaceable mark, scar, or peculiarity of 
the individual, and to describe more fully and accurately than is 
now done the general appearance and development of each person. 
This complete descriptive list should accompany the man through- 
out his connection with the service; when transferred from one 
vessel to another; when invalided and sent to a naval hospital; 
when discharged from that hospital, whether on certificate of 
ordinary disability or to duty; when discharged from the service, 
whether with ordinary or honorable discharge; and it should 
appear on all certificates of disability, death, or pension. In all 
cases of discharge for permanent disability from incurable affec- 
tions or injuries, it should be filed at the Navy Department for 
reference when suspicion is entertained that such a man has re- 
shipped, and as evidence against him, if this have been done, on 
his trial for the fraud he had perpetrated upon the Government. 
Men should also be instructed to preserve these lists carefully as 
conclusive and requisite for their identification. A recent instance 
within my own knowledge illustrates the necessity for minuteness 
and exactness in descriptive lists. Jeremiah Griffin presented 
himself at a rendezvous to ship as coal-heaver, and was refused 
by the recruiting-officer on the ground that he had already shipped 
and had failed to repair on board the receiving-ship. This he 
denied, and reference to the surgeon's register, although estab- 
lishing the prior shipment of Jeremiah Griffin, coal-heaver, of the 
same height, age, and nationality as the applicant, exhibited in 
the column of remarks, "defective teeth," while the man then 



The Examination of Recruits. 1 5 

offering had a perfect set. Incompleteness of descriptive lists 
subjects the Government to fraudulent claims. John Smith, boat- 
swain's mate, shipped and presented an honorable discharge on 
which he claimed three months' extra pay. He was well marked 
by the loss of a portion of a finger, but no mention was made 
upon the discharge which he presented, of the deformity, which 
had existed a long time. A seaman recently died, at the Naval 
Hospital at Philadelphia, with erosion of the entire penis, who had 
suffered amputation of a third of the organ, ten or twelve years 
before, at a civil hospital at Adelaide, Australia; yet, as Dr. Rusch- 
enberger remarks in his report of the case, " there was no profes- 
sional testimony as to the condition of the penil stump at the time 
of his last enlistment in the Navy." The sale and transfer of honor- 
able discharges is readily carried on when descriptive lists are 
merely filled up with "eyes dark, hair dark, complexion dark, 
marks none," or "eyes light, hair light, complexion light, mark 
on arm;" and, furthermore, the interests of the man himself are 
often jeopardized by his name not being spelled in conformity 
with the original shipment, or by carelessness in transcribing the 
meager items of description. I have known Houghton, after only 
two years in the service, to return as Horton, Bacquiel as Boquil, 
Tuer as Ture, and Koulousi as Gulachi and afterward as Galusha; 
transformations which originated, perhaps, on board the receiving- 
ship, where some careless or uneducated clerk, in making out the 
roll of the crew to be transferred to a sea-going vessel, spelled by 
sound, or as w T ell as he knew how, the names as they were read 
to him, and committed an error which may appear under a second 
mutation of form on the honorable discharge, filled up in a simi- 
lar manner by another equally heedless clerk. Even should the 
man present himself for reshipment at the same rendezvous where 
he originally passed, the very medical officer who wrote the first 
descriptive list must perpetuate the error on the second to secure 
the sailor his three months' bounty, since its payment will be re- 
fused unless the reshipment agrees in name exactly with that on 
the face of the discharge. Instances of this are numerous. One 



1 6 The Exa?nination of Rea'uits. 

related to me by Surgeon Kitchen occurred in January of this 
year, (1871.) A very worthy and intelligent petty-officer, named 
Charles L. Anthony, having refused to sign his name on reship- 
ment Charles T. Anthony, as it had been erroneously entered on 
the books of the ship to which he had previously been attached 
and thus copied upon his honorable discharge, was, in conse- 
quence, refused the payment of the bounty to which his long and 
faithful service entitled him. In my own experience, Peter 
Woppel, as an honorable discharge styled him, though he pro- 
tested that he was baptized Vaupel, and so wrote it in a 
legible hand, had to remain a Woppel until some other blun- 
derer might convert him into a Wobble or something else ; his 
claim for admission into the Naval Asylum, after twenty years' 
service, consequently being invalidated under the rule requiring 
that service to be under the same name, or great difficulty 
being occasioned in the adjustment of any pension claim in 
his favor. As it devolves upon the medical officer to fill up 
the blank descriptive list with the name, nationality, etc., of 
the recruit, it behooves him, for the sake of being exact, to 
cross-examine closely the answers that are made on these points. 
Many men, who profess to have been born in New York, Boston, 
or Philadelphia, will, when asked the precise place of birth, men- 
tion Cherry, North, or Penn streets, localities not remarkable for 
the fecundity of the females who dwell there. This is done 
through a fear lest only natives of the country will be accepted, 
or in the belief that it will insure them more favorable considera- 
tion; but when assured on these points, they frankly admit that 
they are of foreign birth. Confusion often arises from the num- 
ber of identical names on board ship. I have seen a John 
Smith 12th. The most of these are simply "purser's names," 
and a little coaxing and argument will usually induce the man to 
acknowledge his proper name, and in other cases will reveal a 
middle name, which is seldom tendered unless asked for. 
Foreigners should be required to spell their names in their native 
languages, since it will often happen that a man may be desig- 



The Examinatio?i of Recruits. 1 7 



nated Louis Blanc or Johann Schmidt, who would otherwise have 
become a numerical Lewis White or John Smith. Not unfre- 
quently common English names are spelled incorrectly by the 
examiner himself. Since writing the above, I was in a rendezvous 
where I observed a young assistant surgeon enter the name of a 
recruit without asking the orthography, and to my inquiry how 
he knew that to be the proper spelling, he replied, " Oh! I judge 
so." Thus Thomson is given a p, Emory an e, and Fraley an i, 
merely as the indolent or indifferent examiner may judge proper. 
However acute he maybe in other respects, no exercise of judg- 
ment will enlighten him whether Riley or Reilley, Dixon or Dick- 
son, Wallis or Wallace, Fife or Fyffe, Sheppard or Shepherd, Diehl 
or Deal, Bailey, Bayley, or Baillie is correct. All this care on the 
part of the medical officer, however, will be thrown away unless 
the Government exacts a rigid adherence to the original returns 
of the rendezvous in spelling and every other particular, by every 
person whose duty it is to transcribe those returns. How readily 
could the applicant for re-enlistment, or the chronic invalid, who, 
as soon as sent on board ship and required to do duty, repairs to 
the sick-bay with a sprained back, a stricture of the urethra, or a 
rheumatic joint, be identified, if his descriptive list were rilled up in 
some such manner as follows: John Henry Smith, seaman; native 
of Galway, Ireland; age, when shipped, 26^ years; height, 
5 feet 6^ inches; figure, slender; hair, brown and curly; com- 
plexion, florid; face, square; forehead, low; nose, sharp; mouth, 
small; teeth, perfect; eyes, dark chestnut and sunken; broad cicatrix 
of scald on left shin; anchor on right hand; etc. All this involves 
a little more labor, but it is labor that the Government has a right 
to demand of its officers. The subject is so important that I 
have been induced to dwell upon it at some length. Every act 
of duty, however trivial, should be well done, and professional 
pride should deter every officer, whatever his rank, from affixing 
his signature to a subordinate's work until he has satisfied himself 
that it has been performed entirely free from mistake. The fol- 
lowing series of errors in the descriptive list of the crew of a single 
2 N H 



1 8 The Examination of Recruits. 



vessel, (the St. Louis,) effectually illustrates the magnitude of the 
evil sought to be corrected : 

Isaac J. Borden, age 39; instead of Isaac G. Borden, age 31. 

Petrie Martin, age 29; instead of Pierre Martin, age 40. 

William Evene, native of Hartford, Comiecticut; instead of 
William Evans, native of Maryla?id. 

William J. Heme, native of Maine; instead of William J. 
Hearne, native of Ca?iada. 

Alfred McDonald; instead of Alexander McDonald. 

Rajidall McVerrish; instead of Ranald McVerrish. 

William Sims; instead of William Syms. 

Alexander Gorman; instead of Alexander' O* Gorman. 

James Nolefi; instead of James JVoulean. 

George McGoyn; instead of George McGoy?ic. 

Chris tia?i Allvord; instead of Chris top Allvorden. 

Frederick Li7iderman; instead of Frederick Le?idma?i. 

William Cha?iner; instead of W 7 illiam Charmerin. 

Daniel Callihan, native of Rhode Island; instead of Daniel 
Callagha7i, native of New York. 

Cor?ielias Callighan ; instead of Cornelius Callagha?i. 

Peter Durgan; instead of Peter Dugan. 

Monroe Durga?i; instead of Monroe Durgiu. 

John Custice; instead of John Curtice. 

Charles J. Conlogue; instead of Charles J. Co?iologue. 

Andorous Dodge; instead of Andorus Dodge. 

Agustus McEwen; instead of Angus McEwen. 

Benjamin A. McClain; instead of Benjamin A. McClane. 

Charles H. Smith, age 25, native of De?wiark ; instead ot 
Charles H. Smith, age 22, native of Providence, Rhode Island. 

John Kelly, native of Brooklyn; instead of John Kelly, native 
of Philadelphia. 

John Brown, native of Ireland; instead of John Brown, native 
of Boston. 

Henry Johnson, native of Russia; instead of Henry Johnson, 
native of Prussia. 



The Examination of Recruits. 



George Brown, native of Nova Scotia; instead of George 
Brown, native of New Hope, Pennsylvania. 

John Williams, native of Sweden; instead of John Williams, 
native of Pennsylva?iia. 

Andrew Anderson, native of Philadelphia; instead of Andrew 
Anderson, native of Norway. 

Patrick Fardy, native of Maine ; instead of Patrick Fardy, 
native of Ireland. 

George D. Vanness, native of Nzw York ; instead of George 
D. Vanness, native of New Jersey. 

Samuel Wood, native of Russia; instead of Samuel Wood, 
native of Maiiie. 

John Butler, native of Boston, Massachusetts ; instead of John 
Butler, native of Edgartown, Massachusetts. 

Jacob K. Woodbury, native of Boston, Massachusetts; instead 
of Jacob K. Woodbury, native of Beverly, Massachusetts. 

George W. Martin, native of Maine.; instead of George W. 
Martin, native of Lynn, Massachusetts. 

John E. W 7 oodbury, aged 35; instead of John E. Woodbury, 
aged 21. 

No physical examination can be thoroughly and deliberately 
conducted in the. five or ten minutes which, I have reason to 
believe, are the average time devoted to this purpose, particu- 
larly by young officers. More than thirty years ago, Surgeon 
Ruschenberger, prefacing the American edition of an essay by ( 
Deputy Inspector General Marshall on the " Enlisting, Dis- 
charging, and Pensioning of Soldiers," declared that "the inspec- 
tion of recruits, both for the Army and Navy, involving as it does 
the consideration of the interests of the Government and of in- 
dividuals, which are often conflicting, is perhaps the most impor- 
tant and difficult duty which the surgeon is called upon to 
perform. Men who, through vice, dissipation, or misfortune, 
find it difficult to obtain a livelihood from private patronage, are 
very apt to seek employment in the Army or Navy, often with the 
sole view of obtaining medical attendance, and ultimately an 



The Examination of Recruits. 



asylum for pension; and even when the greatest caution and 
circumspection are observed, some unworthy and inefficient 
individuals gain admission into the service. Nor is this very 
surprising, when we consider that, prompted by their interests, 
recruits resort to every means within their knowledge to deceive 
the inspecting officer, whose examination is generally limited for 
each recruit to ten or fifteen minutes, a period much too short to 
ascertain the qualities of a horse, in which the most astute and 
wary jockey may be deceived." 

Paragraph 166 of the Regulations for the Government of the 
Navy requires a muster of the officers and crew, at which the 
executive officer, surgeon, and paymaster shall be present, 
whenever a ship shall be put into commission, "for the purpose 
of verifying the descriptive lists, of ascertaining that the name 
of every man is correctly registered, and that every one has the 
exact uniform dress prescribed by regulations," at which muster 
any discrepancy in the descriptive lists, or error in the transfer 
roll, shall then be corrected. But if the objects of this regula- 
tion are not very generally ignored, except as regards the inspec- 
tion of uniforms, the examination of the descriptive lists is cer- 
tainly never conducted in the critical spirit intended, nor is such 
possible at a general muster, and even when errors are discovered 
paymasters very strenuously object to the alteration of the entries 
in their books. The three officers indicated should sit as a board, 
and deliberately and carefully examine every individual of the 
crew singly, with regard to the spelling of his name, his age, 
nativity, and correspondence with the other items of the descrip- 
tive lists. 

The points to be particularly noted by the examining medical 
officer at the rendezvous, are— 

i. Name — in full, middle, if any, and in his native language. 

2. Nativity — specifying town or other locality. 

3. Age — in years and months at time of shipment. 

4. Height — in feet and fractions of inches. 

5. Circumference of thorax — at the level of the nipples, after 
full inspiration and prolonged expiration. 



The Examination of Recruits. 



6. General development and figure — slender, robust, corpulent, 
muscular, stooping, etc. 

7. Intelligence — good, bright, ordinary, obtuse, etc. 

8. Face — oval, square, high-cheeked, freckled, pock-marked, 
smooth, bearded, etc. 

9. Forehead — high, low, receding, prominent, etc. 

10. Complexion — pale, fair, florid, dusky, tawny, swarthy, quad- 
roon, mulatto, negro, etc. 

11. Hair — light or dark chestnut, brown auburn, sandy, red. 
flaxen, gray, black, thin, bald, straight, curly, wool, etc. 

12. Nose — large, small, aquiline, pug, flat, sharp, bent, etc. 

13. Mouth — small, large, thick or thin-lipped, etc. 

14. Teeth — perfect, irregular, deficiencies, etc. 

15. Distinguishing ;#tfr/fo-T-smoot"hness or hirsuteness of sur- 
face, prominence of pomum adami, peculiarities of ensiform car- 
tilage, hollo wness of sternum, prominence, rotundity, or flatness 
of abdomen, unusual size or smallness of penis, scrotum, or testes, 
hollowness or prominence of anal region, bow-legs, knock-knees, 
splay-feet, largeness of hands, feet, or joints, besides every abnor- 
mal feature not inconsistent with perfect bodily vigor, such as 
naevi materni, discolorations, cicatrices, outgrowths, varicose veins, 
deficiencies, etc. 

The certificate of the applicant that he is "not subject to 
fits," etc., (Form Q,) which precedes the physical examination, 
is usually signed without hesitancy and without regard to fact. 
Cases of epilepsy, stricture of the urethra, haemorrhois, chronic 
rheumatism, old injuries, congenital and inherited affections, pre- 
sent themselves on the sick-list of every vessel in commission, encum- 
ber sick-bays, and materially interfere with the health and the com- 
fort both of the well and of those who have become sick in the 
performance of duty. If the certificate of exemption from these 
complaints were required to be in the form of an oath, and its 
fraudulent signer were subjected to court-martial and punishment 
as a perjurer, these cases would soon become infrequent. 

In this connection I desire to propose a system of physical ex- 



The Examination of Recruits. 



animations, which may assist the younger medical officers who 
have had little or no experience in such duty. It must be borne 
in mind, however, as Dr. Fallon, of the Belgian army, has well ob- 
served : "That rules and regulations on this subject, however 
carefully they may have been devised, and however minutely they 
may enter into detail, are but very imperfect guides. They fur- 
nish an outline, it is true, of the track which requires to be fol- 
lowed, but they do not enable us to escape many mistakes into 
which we may fall." The Prussian regulations for the medical 
examination of recruits, after reminding the surgeon that it is one 
of the most difficult and responsible of the duties he has to per- 
form, add : " It is impossible to frame specific rules for the exam- 
ination of recruits so as to obviate every difficulty. In a great 
variety of cases the decision must depend on the discretion and 
experience of the inspecting medical officer." Hence, the impro- 
priety of ordering newly-appointed officers to rendezvous, or of 
intrusting the physical examination of recruits and applicants for 
survey and pension to the assistant surgeons on board vessels to 
which their seniors are attached or in squadrons, since officers of 
experience are guided in a great degree by their knowledge of 
the duties and habits of sailors, the deceptions they are accus- 
tomed to practice, and the requirements of the service. The rou- 
tine of examination, which I here propose, and no single detail of 
which should ever be omitted, will, I believe, indicate to the med- 
ical examiner every important point to which his attention should 
be directed. 

i. The examiner must satisfy himself of the sobriety and clean- 
liness of the applicant. It is proper to require a bath before ex- 
amination, for the better exposure of syphilides, etc. ; and the 
least evidence of the narcotic effect of alcohol upon the eye, face, 
or heart should decide the medical officer to decline proceeding 
any further at that time. 

2. The applicant having then made oath or affirmation of his 
freedom from any disability of which he is himself cognizant, let 
him stand erect before the examiner in a broad light, and perfectly 



The Examination of Recruits. 23 

nude, with chin elevated, heels together, and arms hanging ex- 
tended, and let him slowly turn so as to present his front, rear, 
and sides in succession. This inspection will satisfy the examiner 
of the unfitness of the applicant should he have an attenuated 
or crooked form, cutaneous or other external disease, glandular 
swellings and other evidences of the strumous cachexia, excessive 
development of fat, softness of muscular tissue, oedema, deformi- 
ties, tumors, extensive cicatrices, nodes, varicosities, etc. Evidences 
of medical treatment, particularly, when recent, in the shape of 
leech-bites, discolorations from blisters, seton, issue, or scarifi- 
cator marks, or cicatrices of operations, in connection with marked 
diathesis, are valuable suggestions of liability to disease. 

3. The general appearance being satisfactory, the next point 
to be determined is the existence of venereal disease. I particu- 
larly advise a careful inspection of the internal epitrochlear spaces 
and posterior cervical region for indurated lymphatic glandulae, 
as positively indicative of the existence of a syphilitic taint. The 
penis should be scrutinized in its entire length, the prepuce re- 
tracted, the glans and orifice carefully inspected, the urethra com- 
pressed, and the man required to cough to eject purulent matter. 
Most men affected with gonorrhoea or gleet wash out the urethra 
by urinating immediately before entering the examining-room; so 
that when there is any reason to suspect this disease, it is well to 
look at the urethra again after all the other examination has been 
completed. The flexion of the glans upon the dorsum, and firm 
pressure near the bulb, generally occasion so much pain that the 
man winces and exposes himself, even when there is no discharge 
discernible. The scrotum should be carefully examined for vari- 
cocele, cirsocele, orchitis, and the other diseases of these parts. 
Any permanent abnormal condition, singularity of development, 
retention of testis, induration' of globus minor and vas deferens, 
etc., should be noted on the descriptive list. Notwithstanding the 
large proportion of sailors affected with stricture of the urethra, it 
is scarcely possible to guard against their shipment except by 
requiring them to certify on oath to its non-existence, and by 



24 The Examination of Recruits. 



punishing them by sentence of court-martial on the subsequent 
exposure of the deception practiced. Few Americans could be 
persuaded, like the French, to submit to the introduction of a 
bougie; and it would be almost as repugnant to require them to 
urinate in the presence of the examiner. 

4. Direct the applicant to stoop over, touching his toes with 
his fingers, the knees stiffened, and in a straight line with the legs, 
the feet apart, and the nates exposed to a strong light. Separate 
the latter widely, and inspect carefully to discover haemorrhois, 
prolapsus, fistulse of the anus and perinaeum, etc. The latter 
diseases very often escape observation, and, when overlooked, 
constitute the grounds for so many applications for survey. I 
remember one man who had been operated upon for fistula ani 
at two hospitals, reported himself on my sick-list on board the 
Preble, was again the subject of operation, transferred to a third 
hospital, and discharged from the service. A few months later I 
again encountered him an inmate of that same hospital. 

5. While the man is still stooping, make forcible pressure on 
each of the spinous processes of the vertebrae, to discover spinal 
affections, and over the renal regions for evidences of tenderness. 

6. Cause him to rise and face the examiner; present both the 
dorsal and palmar surfaces of each hand; flex and extend every 
finger; grasp with the thumb and forefinger and with the whole 
hand; flex and extend the wri ts and fore-arms; pronate and 
supinate the hand; perform all the motions of the shoulder-joints, 
especially violent circumduction; extend the arms at right angles 
from the body, and from that position touch the shoulders with 
the fingers; elevate the hands above the head, palm to palm, then 
back to back, and, while standing thus, examine the axillae and 
groins for enlarged lymphatics, and the latter regions closely for 
fistulous openings, herniae, and relaxation of the inguinal parietes 
predisposing to ruptures, compelling the recruit to bend forward, 
cough and strain repeatedly and violently. Inspect the abdomen 
for umbilical hernia, and for enlargement of the liver and spleen. 
Next cause him to evert and invert the feet; to stand on the 



The Examination of Recruits. 25 



heels and then on tip-toe, coming down on the heel quickly and 
heavily, and lifting the toes from the floor; to bend each thigh 
alternately high up on the abdomen, and while standing on one 
leg to hop with each foot; to squat low down by bending both 
knees and thighs, and to rise quickly from this position; to per- 
form all the motions of the hip-joint; to walk backward and for- 
ward slowly and at double-quick, and thus to exercise every 
articulation of the body in all its movements. 

7. Examine the thorax by percussion and ausculation, espe- 
cially in the infraclavicular and cardiac regions, at the same time 
observing the radial pulse ; cross the arms upon the chest, placing 
each hand upon the opposite shoulder, and, inclining the body 
forward, examine the posterior regions of the thorax. Observe 
the movements of the chest during prolonged inspiration and ex- 
piration, recording its extreme dimensions by measurement with 
a tape in a horizontal direction immediately below the nipples. 
In this connection, the indications of the expiratory and inspira- 
tory power afforded by the haemadynamometer would be valua- 
ble. Observe the effects of violent exercise upon the pulse and 
respiration. 

8. Examine the scalp for cicatrices, depressions, tinea, etc.; di- 
rect the head to be bent forward and backward, and to be rotated 
upon the neck; observe the motions of the lower jaw. Examine 
the ears for polypi, disease of the membrana tympani, etc. Test 
the hearing by asking questions in an undertone, at a distance, 
each ear being alternately closed by an assistant. Examine the 
eyelids and eyes, closing and opening them to observe the mo- 
tions of the iris. Test the eye-sight by requiring the applicant 
to read test-types, or distinguish articles of various sizes and col- 
ors at proper distances, using each eye alternately. Note the 
absence of cilia, corneal opacities, redness of tarsal edges, ob- 
struction of the puncta, etc. Throw back the head and inspect 
the nostrils for polypi, ozaena, etc. Examine the teeth, noting 
great defects. Absence of all the teeth of one jaw, or of all the 
molars, is sufficient reason for rejection, since imperfect mastica- 



2 6 The Examination of Recruits. 

tion, especially when the man is restricted to the regular sea- 
ration, is very apt to cause dyspepsia and its consequences. 
Note if the cutting edges of the central incisors are excavated in- 
ternally, believed, on good grounds, to be indicative of congenital 
syphilis. Depress the tongue and examine the fauces for hyper- 
trophied tonsils, syphilitic ulceration, mucous patches, etc. De- 
cided stammering or difficult enunciation are sufficient reasons 
for rejection. 

9. Ascertain whether he has been vaccinated, or presents satis- 
factory evidence of having had variola. 

10. Discover by adroit questioning with what diseases he has 
been affected, and of what his parents or near relatives have died. 
This part of the examination is important, as it enables the med- 
ical officer to discover the fatuity or imbecility of the applicant. 
Many officers probably remember a man named Benjamin Sea- 
man, who has several times appeared in the service as an ordinary 
seaman. He was utterly inefficient on board ship, and was twice 
sent to naval hospitals. Any careful observer ought to have been 
satisfied, after a few minutes' conversation, that this man was of 
very feeble intellect. Unprincipled persons sometimes attempt 
to impose weak-minded boys upon the service to rid themselves 
of their care. I was witness to two such attempts, in the year 
i860, at the naval rendezvous at New York, by ministers of re- 
ligion, one of them an officer of a charitable orphan asylum. 

At the risk of the accusation of imposing unnecessary labor 
upon the examiner, and of making the inspection needlessly tedi- 
ous to the subject, I urgently advise the establishment of dynamo- 
metric tests for ascertaining the absolute and relative strength of 
the individuals presenting themselves for shipment, as furnishing 
important data for determining their ability to perform the labor 
and endure the fatigues of a nautical career. I do not recom- 
mend this, however, for the object proposed by the French hy- 
gienists — the stationing of the crew according to the indications 
of the dynamometer. Thus, Keraudren, writing on this subject, 
states, " Other things being equal, we consider those sailors who 



The Examination of Recruits. 27 

are endowed with great ??ia?iual strength as the most proper to be 
stationed in the tops; we know what a prehensile power topmen 
require to gather up or reef a sail which is blown about or dis- 
tended by the wind. Those men, on the contrary, who possess a 
considerable renal (lumbar) strength should be assigned to the 
battery, and particularly to the working of guns of heavy caliber." 
No complex apparatus will be required for the purpose I suggest. 
It is desirable to ascertain and record the hoisting, hauling, and 
lifting power of the individual. The number of pounds which he 
can lift a certain distance, or the height to which he can elevate 
a certain weight by pulling steadily on a rope led through a 
block overhead, will give the first; by hauling on a rope led hori- 
zontally through a block fastened at the level of the waist, the 
second will be ascertained; while the third may, of course, be ob- 
tained by attaching as many weights to a bar or ring as can be 
lifted the same distance in the ordinary way. These very simple 
contrivances may be extemporized on board any vessel, and may 
readily be introduced into the examining-room of the rendezvous. 
The numbers obtained are not to be entered on the descriptive 
list, but should be recorded on the medical officer's register for 
statistical purposes, along with those indicated by the hsemadyna- 
mometer, should its use also be authorized. 



THE RECEIVING-SHIP. 



The receiving-ship is the nursery of the man-of-war's man. 
First impressions are enduring, and the sailor will be permanently 
influenced by the examples he sees around him on entering the 
service. The receiving-ship should be a disciplined man-of-war 
The recruit, with his civilian clothes, should cast off his civilian 
habits, and witness, at the very outset, the spectacle of order, 
cleanliness, and discipline, to which he will be subjected during 
his whole naval career. 

When the recruit leaves the rendezvous, he is furnished with a 
descriptive list and a due-bill for the authorized advance; but, in- 
stead of at once repairing on board, he returns to his boarding- 
house, indulges in a last debauch, and is finally carried off to the 
receiving-ship by his landlord. He is required to present himself 
clean, sober, and, until recently, outfitted. He is now allowed to 
obtain his clothing from the paymaster of the receiving-ship, but 
it is a matter of regret that this is not made compulsory. The fur- 
nishing of the outfit constitutes a large part of the business of board- 
ing-house keepers, and of a class of persons who have shops 
attached to or adjoining the rendezvous, and who seize upon such 
of the recruits, usually boys, landsmen, and merchant-men, as 
they can persuade to patronize them. 

The recruiting-office ought undoubtedly to be either on board 
the receiving- ship, or within the precincts of the navy-yard, and 
the agency of the landlord entirely ignored by the Government. 
The vast majority of men now received in the naval service are 
picked up by the "landshark" as soon as they are paid off from a 
cruise, supplied with rum, board, and money for prostitutes as 
long as he sees fit, and then carried by him to the rendezvous, 
where he receives their descriptive lists and the due-bills for their 



The Receiving- Shift. 29 

two or three months' advance, and whence he takes them back to 
his tavern, indulges them in a farewell spree, outfits them with 
worthless clothing, and then transfers them to the receiving-ship. 
If any of them have had honorable discharges, he increases his 
bill proportionally, and likewise receives the three months' extra 
pay to which that discharge entitles them. The descriptive list 
and due-bill ought in every instance to be delivered only to the 
recruit himself, w r ho should be informed that he must obtain his 
outfit on board the receiving-ship, unless he is in possession of 
clothing from paymaster's stores. He ought to be required to 
proceed at once to the receiving-ship, and when this is not done, 
the medical officer of the rendezvous should inform him that he 
has to be re-examined, and that he must wash his body, dress 
cleanly, and have his hair cut short before reporting himself on 
board. After the second examination by the surgeon of the re- 
ceiving-ship, which is preliminary and requisite to his acceptance, 
and which is absolutely necessary not only for detecting recent 
venereal affections, but for discovering anything that may have 
escaped the first examiner, he should be required to bathe 
thoroughly, using warm water and soap, under the supervision of 
the master-at-arms, in a part of the vessel especially assigned for 
that purpose, and be provided with the outfit of clothing indicated 
elsewhere. His former clothing should be returned to his family 
or disposed of for his benefit. From this time he should be re- 
garded as the child of the Government, and should be cared for 
by the officers who represent that Government. He should be 
taught the necessity of obedience, the certainty of punishment for 
misdoing, and of reward for meritorious conduct, and he should 
be assured that the arm of authority by which he is chastised is 
also powerful to defend him from imposition and injustice. There 
is a class of persons who have filled certain petty-officers' positions 
on board receiving-ships for years, and who, like the sutlers at the 
various marine barracks, take advantage of their stations to extort 
money from new men on various pretenses, or make loans to them 
at exorbitant rates of interest. Some of these persons have ac- 



3<d The Receiving- Ship. 



quired large fortunes by their nefarious trade, which they adroitly 
conceal from the officers of the vessel, who are continually chang- 
ing and do not become familiar with or are indifferent to their ex- 
tortions. Every transaction of this kind should be strictly pro- 
hibited by law, and every infraction of the law severely punished; 
a monthly allowance of pay, conditional upon good behavior, re- 
moving the excuse for obtaining money in this way. This is 
not ground foreign to hygiene. The moral health of a crew is as 
necessary to discipline and efficiency as the normal condition of 
their bodies. The superiority of the modern over the old-time 
sailor, as an intelligent, thinking man, is evident to the unpreju- 
diced, and the late war demonstrated that he was no less zealous, 
brave, and competent than his ruder predecessors, who made a 
naval reputation for their country. It is the province of hygiene 
to correct all errors and abuses whatsoever which enfeeble the 
body, obtund the mind, or degrade the moral nature of the sailor. 
The purpose of its suggestions is to diminish sick-lists, empty 
brigs, and banish from the berth-deck the filth, obscenity, and 
profanity, of the existence of which only those are ignorant who 
never visit it except when it is prepared for inspection. 

The sanitary regulations applicable to receiving-ships are the 
same as those I shall recommend to be adopted on board cruis- 
ing vessels. They do not, therefore, need any special discussion 
in this place. 

Before being drafted to a sea-going vessel, every man should 
be inspected by the executive officer as to the completeness of 
his outfit of clothing, and by the medical officer as to his health 
and cleanliness. The executive and medical officers of the sea- 
going vessel should also carefully inspect them as they come on 
board. Under the present system, men are sent away usually 
scantily clothed, sometimes in ill-health, and generally unclean 
in their bodies. I have known vessels to receive their crews in 
the winter season, a majority of the men being without mat- 
tresses, blankets, under-clothing, stockings, jackets, or overcoats, 
and many of them infested with vermin, with which they were 



The Receiving- Ship . 31 



compelled to suffer several weeks, the intensely cold weather 
rendering it impossible to cleanse their bodies. It is not uncom- 
mon to clear off the sick-list of the receiving-ship by sending its 
most troublesome habitues away with a draft, and when these men 
have to make a passage in a dispatch-boat or tug, to some 
distant navy-yard, they are frequently exposed for several days 
to the rigors of our coast, always insufficiently clad, and forced 
to sleep about the decks, without bedding, wherever they can 
find a place. Such men invariably report for treatment as soon 
as they get on board the vessel to which they are ordered. 
Many others, who were well when they started, contract severe 
acute diseases, which disable them when their services are most 
required, and often entail permanent organic changes, for which 
they have to be invalided sooner or later during the cruise. The 
medical journal has usually to be opened as soon as the ensign 
is hoisted and the vessel put in commission, and the apothecary 
is at work compounding prescriptions before the cook has lighted 
his fire at the galley. The transfer of a case of parotitis from the 
sick-bay of the receiving-ship to that of the Tennessee, a trans- 
fer effected without the consent of the medical officers, resulted 
in the illness from that disease of more than seventy of the crew 
of the latter vessel. Every man-of-war should begin her cruise 
under the most favorable circumstances possible, and hygiene 
exacts nothing so important as that every man shall be in good 
health and provided with all the clothing he may need. The 
necessity for the vessel remaining a few days at the navy-yard 
after going into commission is apparent, that omissions may be 
supplied and provision made for every possible contingency, but 
it is no less important for the Government to provide a proper 
transport, with adequate berthing accommodations, for drafts of 
men sent from one naval station to another. 



NAVY-YARDS. 



There is a medical officer attached to every navy-yard, whose 
special and almost only recognized duty is to attend the sick 
among the officers and marine guard, and to examine applicants 
for enlistment in the Marine Corps. His more important func- 
tions should pertain to the sanitary considerations involved in the 
construction and proper preservation of the home of the sailor — 
questions similar to those within the province of civil health- 
officers. If it be important to require architects to consider 
hygienic principles in the construction of dwelling-houses, it is 
of no less consequence to insist that ship-builders shall have 
regard to the healthfulness and comfort of the structures in which 
so many thousand men have to pass so large a portion of their 
lives. In claiming for the medical corps this professional interest 
in the building of vessels, and the care of those in ordinary, no 
interference is sought with the customary routine of dock-yard 
duty. The recommendations of the medical officer are of gen- 
eral applicability, and would be better embodied in stringent 
regulations of the Department than left to the suggestion of 
individual officers. The medical officer of the navy-yard is, 
doubtless, the proper person to supervise the observance of these 
regulations, and call attention to their neglect by subordinates. 

The objects it is urged upon the Department to enforce by reg- 
ulation are — 

i. To preserve vessels in ordinary and those building as dry 
as possible. 

2. To keep them perfectly clean. 

3. To provide the most perfect means for their ventilation. 

4. To provide the most perfect means for the admission of 
light into their interior. 



Navy- Yards. 



Z3 



Dampness, dirt, foul air, and darkness are the direst enemies 
with which the sailor has to battle when afloat. They can never 
be wholly routed and conquered, but they may be subdued 
and rendered comparatively harmless. Leagued together, they 
slaughter more than all the adversary's powder and shot. The 
most accomplished ordnance officer has no more subtle and pow- 
erful ally, in the work of bringing death to his country's foes, than 
the poor hygiene of his opponents. Sir Gilbert Blane attributed 
the failure of the British arms during our war of Independence 
to the deficiency of numbers, and want of strength and energy of 
the men from excessive sickness and mortality, and declared that 
if the same death-rate in their navy had continued during the 
French revolutionary war seamen would no longer have been 
procurable, and their famous victories have never been achieved; 
so that, says Professor Guy, "it was not the seamanship and fight- 
ing qualities of our sailors alone that carried us triumphantly 
through that terrible contest, but a reduced mortality, due to the 
sanitary discoveries and reforms, which first recruited our popu- 
lation by saving lives in infancy and childhood, and then cut off 
from our forces, by sea and land, the destructive supplies of jail- 
fever, scurvy, dysentery, and small-pox." Therefore, while in- 
ventive talent is being strained to meet the exigencies of an 
exceptional state of war, let something be done to stay the mur- 
derers who are dealing out death as well in times of peace as in 
those of conflict. 

It is not expected that ships can ever be made as comfortable 
and healthful as homes on land. The creatures that swim the 
sea and those that roam over the earth each have their habits. 
The carpeted and mirrored steamship, like the painted harridan, 
:tty only in spots. Her foul and unclean parts are only 
masked by the local splendor. The attempt at reform need not, 
however, be stopped because absolute perfection is impossible. 
Humanity demands that all should be done that may. The float- 
ing hells of the past century, and the rude, strange race who lived 
and died upon their ocean home, who spoke a language unintel- 
3 N H 



34 Navy- Yards. 



ligible to shore folks, and were ignorant of the customs of the 
land world, have become historical; Sailors are men, and ships 
the habitations of men, but there is still filth and depravity and 
sickness where there might be cleanliness and decency and 
health. The medical corps is laboring to this end — not to over- 
turn for the sake of overturning, as has been unkindly and mali- 
ciously insinuated. 

The first great fact which should be impressed on all naval 
constructors, sailing officers, and dock-yard officials, is the neces- 
sity of keeping a vessel as dry as .possible, not only when in com- 
mission and in ordinary, but even when on the stocks. The wood 
of which a vessel is composed is a dead organic substance, sub- 
ject to molecular decay, which is accelerated by heat and moist- 
ure. The temperature is to a certain extent beyond our control, 
but it is not altogether out of our power to maintain a certain 
degree of dryness, which will not only retard this decomposition, 
but diminish one of the causes of that humidity on board ships 
which I shall presently show to be so prejudicial to the health of 
the crew. All vessels should be built under cover, in dry seasons 
of the year, of old and seasoned timber, and the operations of 
building should be conducted slowly, so that a circulation of air 
may take place between all parts of the frame. When timber 
has been allowed to soak in salt water for purposes of preserva- 
tion, it should be thoroughly dried before being used in the con- 
struction of vessels. ' Green wood, from the amount of contained 
sap and the softness of its tissues, is more readily decomposed 
than old hard timber in which the wood cells are compact, and 
vessels constructed of it are notoriously unhealthy. Fonssagrives, 
whose excellent work on naval hygiene is the most complete that 
has ever been published, narrates two instances in point: "We 
are indebted to M. Delalun, capitaine de vaisseau, for the two fol- 
lowing facts, demonstrating the influence of the mode of construc- 
tion of vessels upon their salubrity. At Navarino the crews of 
our vessels were properly subsisted and were spared by the scurvy. 
The vessel of Admiral de Rigny alone, although it had fresh 



ISla'dy- Yards. 35 



meat twice oftener than the others, was decimated by this affec- 
tion. There were about eighty men constantly on the sick-list. 
The fact was explained by the humidity of the wood which was 
used in this vessel and by the rapidity of its construction. The 
improvised squadron of Antwerp (i8i2-'i3) had been built of 
wood felled while in sap. At the end of eight years all these 
vessels were out of service, and there was not one of them that 
could be repaired. The ship L'Hector, among others, was so 
rotten that she could not even be used as a hulk. She was con- 
stantly full of scorbutic cases." The histories of our own " ninety- 
day gun-boats" and " double-enders " illustrate the same fact. 

Vessels in ordinary should be immediately housed over. 
When fitting out for sea, it should be the special duty of the 
watchman or ship-keeper to carefully close all hatches and ports 
in wet weather, and open them in dry. It is not unusual when a 
vessel is in the hands of the navy-yard e??iployees to find her 
lower decks flooded with water or piled up with snow, even when 
her crew is hourly expected on board. Large painted awnings 
or tarpaulins should be provided and so arranged as to be quickly 
spread on the occurrence of rain or snow. 

No vessel can be made absolutely impervious to water. It 
finds entrance by a thousand channels, by opening seams, by 
worm-holes, by leakage from tanks and casks, by the condensa- 
tion of the aqueous vapor in the atmosphere. Great care should, 
therefore, be taken in ship-building that it be allowed to run 
down freely into the limbers, and find access, without obstruc- 
tion forward or aft, to the pump-well, whence it can be daily 
removed. Medical Inspector Joseph Wilson, in his work on 
naval hygiene, calls attention to a, very common defect in 
pumps, which are too short to reach to the bottom of the well, 
and thus discharge all • the accumulated water. I translate the 
following instance quoted by Fonssagrives from a thesis on dys- 
entery by M. Collas, a surgeon in the French navy, illustrating 
the danger that may result from any obstruction to the discharge 
of this bilge- water : " The corvette La Triomphante was anchored 



36 Navy- Yards. 



at Nouka Hyva, at a point where there were no marshes. There 
was not a single case of dysentery on shore. Soon afterward 
this disease commenced to rage on board. The agitation of the 
vessel, first by a gale of wind and then by getting aground, soon 
caused new cases to appear. The hold was examined, and under 
the store-room a pool of stagnant water was found which could 
not run into the pump-well, the vessel being down by the head 
from the anchors on the bow. The place was carefully cleaned, 
and the epidemic disappeared." 

It would be supposed to be impossible to make complaint of 
the uncleanliness of newly built vessels, but it is a fact that there 
are few which do not carry with them from the stocks as great a 
source of disease as the foulness accumulated by a whole ship's 
company during a cruise. There is a general neglect, inexcusa- 
ble and criminal because it does not involve much trouble, to 
remove the chips and other remains of building-materials, which 
collect on the floor of the vessel and are planked up under the 
ceiling, where they remain year after year, decomposing under 
the influence of confined and heated air and the admixture of 
fresh and salt water constantly in the limbers. The report of the 
Portsmouth Relief Association upon the origin of the yellow 
fever which prevailed at Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, in 
the year 1855, relates an instance of frightful extent of illness 
traceable to this cause; and an illustration quite as conclusive 
was furnished by the United States ship Macedonian during her 
crjiise on the north coast of South America. The fact was com- 
municated to me by her first lieutenant. Numerous cases of 
fever having occurred on board this vessel, it was remarked 
by her surgeon, now Medical Director Grier, that the men 
attacked were chiefly those who slept in the forward part of the 
vessel. A local cause was suggested and' discovered by scuttling 
the fore peak. As soon as an opening was made, a noisome 
effluvium arose, and a candle introduced into the peak was in- 
stantly extinguished. Both sides were scuttled, w r ind-sails were 
let down, and, after the place was sufficiently ventilated to allow 



Navy- Yards. 37 



men to descend into it with safety, was cleaned out. More than 
fifty bucketfuls of putrescent vegetable matter and several hogs- 
heads of foul discolored water were removed. 'From this time 
the disease disappeared. A letter in the London Times, Septem- 
ber 18, 1 86 1, from Halifax, where Her Britannic Majesty's ship 
Jason then was, states that "she is a new vessel, built of green 
wood; her bilges cannot be kept sweet; the officers have tried 
all means to do so without success. This is considered the prin- 
cipal cause of her being so unhealthy. The stench is abomi- 
nable, particularly in the after part of the ship and in the officers 5 
cabin, and the Jason is not the only sickly ship in which such a 
nuisance has existed." 

Naval constructors will, doubtless, admit that when planning 
vessels the very last subject, if ever, in their thoughts is hygiene. 
They aim at buoyancy, speed, strength, lightness of draught, but 
never salubrity. The means of ventilating a ship in commission 
will be hereafter referred to, but the constructor has it in his 
power to make those means much more efficacious than they can be 
under the present system of internal arrangements. There should 
be no such thing as a solid bulkhead in the inhabited part of a 
vessel. Some of our finest ships have their berth-decks ruined by 
being divided into four or five close compartments by as many 
complete transverse bulk-heads. Every partition, those separat- 
ing private apartments as well as those marking the larger sub- 
divisions of ward-room, steerage, warrant officers' steerage, sick- 
bay, etc., should be latticed or gratinged above and below. This 
can always be done without any sacrifice of strength. The cabin 
and ward-room bulk-heads and doors usually have Venetian 
blinds or perpendicular bars in their upper part, but the lower 
panels should also be permeable to air, and all other bulk-heads, 
whether of store-rooms, lockers, sail-room, shell-room, etc., should 
be arranged in the same way. Every place should be accessible 
to air, which should circulate freely forward and aft on every deck 
of the vessel. The furniture of officers' rooms is not only anti- 
quated and inelegant, but such as unnecessarily diminishes the 



3$ Navy- Yards. 



cubic air-space of the rooms. Cumbersome and unwieldy bu- 
reaus, bunks, and wash-stands are taken out and restored, cruise 
after cruise, without change or improvement. Instead of the huge 
box-like wash-stand, a neat iron upright, with rings for basin and 
pitcher, sockets for mug and soap-block, and hooks for towels, 
might be devised to occupy one-fourth the space. The bureau 
could be made of much lighter materials, and the bunk would be 
far more comfortable if constructed on the principle of the French 
swinging cradles. A neat style of clothes-locker might be con- 
trived of wire, which would be cleaner, more commodious and 
more ornamental than the great wooden boxes and drawers that 
are now 7 never opened nor closed without difficulty. These 
changes w r ould furnish space for a much larger amount of respir- 
able air, and if, in addition, -all the bulk-heads were latticed, 
though only for a few inches at the top and bottom, the officers' 
room would not be such an inclosure of confined and heated air, 
from which the occupant escapes on deck in the morning with 
nausea, dyspnoea, and headache, and to which he returns with 
loathing at the dampness and foul smell he encounters. 

The apertures for the admission of light are necessarily few. 
These are the gun-ports, air-ports, and hatchways.. Sometimes 
deck-lights of very thick glass are introduced in the ward-room 
and cabins, and might, with great propriety and no risk, be dis- 
tributed forward over the berth-deck. 

These improvements are all feasible in old as in new vessels. 
Naval constructors would, undoubtedly, cheerfully exercise their 
skill in the furtherance of these hygienic objects if the matter were 
brought officially to their notice. Some of these gentlemen, with 
a laudable desire to contribute to the comfort of officers, have in- 
troduced the novelty of bathing-tubs, and I am, therefore, sure 
they would be no less disposed to devise improvements conducive 
to the health of those who have to inhabit the floating houses they 
put together. 



HUMIDITY. 



The great danger the sailor encounters is water. Not the 
mighty deep he traverses, on whose wide waste he is but an indis- 
tinguishable speck, and from whose depths he is only separated 
by a few inches of plank. It is not the water without his vessel 
that imperils his life so much as that within it — that which saturates 
his clothes and bedding, fills the air he breathes, and, creeping in 
wherever that air can enter, permeates the very tissue of the wood 
of which his ship is built. This is his enemy ; terrible because 
unseen, powerful because denied, depreciated and therefore un- 
resisted. Fewer lives are lost by shipwreck than by the operations 
of this subtle agent. Man's skill has mastered the fury of the 
ocean. He is able to oppose its storms and currents, and go 
upon its surface as he lists; but, he makes no attempt to combat 
this insidious slayer. 

The daily variations in the hygrometric constitution of the at- 
mosphere do not amount to more than a few grains in weight per 
cubic foot. Air is saturated at 52 F. by 1.42 per cent, of its 
volume of aqueous vapor, in weight about four and a half grains 
to the cubic foot. As the temperature rises it becomes able to 
retain a larger quantity of vapor in solution, being saturated at 
77 F. by three per cent, or 9.8 grains, while at the freezing-point 
it holds only a fraction over two grains, or less than one per cent, 
of its volume. Ordinarily, it seldom contains more than two or 
three grains, or from thirty to fifty per cent, of the quantity of 
water in the state of vapor required to completely saturate it. 
The fluctuations in humidity, which the rheumatic invalid appre- 
ciates so sensitively, sometimes correspond to a change of weight 
of less than a single grain. The marine atmosphere normally 



40 Humidity. 



contains a larger amount of aqueous vapor than the terrestrial, and 
on board ship the proportion is further increased by the exhala- 
tion of fluid from the surface of the bodies of the men confined 
upon it, and very greatly by that from the lungs in the act of ex- 
piration, twenty-five to forty ounces of water being discharged 
daily by each individual in this way. The evaporation from a 
wet deck supplies water enough to the atmosphere to raise it to 
its point of saturation; and when this is repeated without regard 
to temperature and season, all those evils result which are attrib- 
uted by ihe scientific to the prolonged influence of moisture and 
heat, and which have conferred upon the climate of the west 
coast of Africa its notorious unhealthfulness : and as far as my 
own observation has extended, it has generally escaped attention 
that these two morbific influences usually act in conjunction. Ac- 
cording to Tyndall the aqueous vapor of the atmosphere absorbs 
solar heat radiations with rapidity, and the greater the amount of 
vapor and the more humid the atmosphere the greater will be the 
amount of heat absorbed, and consequently the smaller will be 
the excess of sun temperature over that of the shade. Hence, a 
ship, the atmosphere of which is always kept near the point of 
saturation by being frequently deluged with water, will have the 
temperature of its shaded parts raised almost to the height of those 
exposed to the unshielded sun. In temperate climates the usual 
average yearly excess of sun over shade is twenty degrees, and in 
the tropics it is three times as much. It is evident, therefore, that 
the beneficial effect of spreading awnings is very much diminished 
and die temperature of the lower decks greatly augmented, if the 
ship is kept damp; and this is not inconsistent with the fact that 
the occasional sprinkling of a dry heated uncovered spar-deck 
momentarily reduces the temperature through evaporation. 

Since, then, such minute differences in the amount of aqueous 
vapor in the atmosphere disturb the harmonious action of the 
functions of the human body, how urgently necessary are those 
measures of precaution which are insisted on by medical men! 
There is but one opinion on this subject among naval surgeons 



Humidity. 41 



all over the world. " Humidity," -ays Pringle, "is one of the 

' most frequent causes of the derangement of health; ** and Fons- 
sagrives, the greatest authority on naval hygiene, uses this lan- 
guage: '-The practice of medicine on board ship confirms the 
truth of this assertion: Whenever a vessel may be said to be 
very damp, it may be said to be an unhealthy vessel. Ail the 
authors who have written on the diseases of seamen, Rouppe. 
Lind, Poisonnier-Desperieres. Keraudren. Raoul, etc.. are unani- 
mous in attributing a very great importance to this etiological 
influence. The latter, after having, in his report on the cruise of 
the Caraibe, analyzed the causes of the production of scurvy on 
board different vessels, and discussed ail other influences, a:- 
nourishment, sojourn in port or at sea, different stations, etc.. 
finally attributed this formidable affection to the persistence of 
humidity. All are of one accord on the insalubrity of an atmos- 
phere saturated with water, in which die cutaneous depuration 
greatly flags, and respiration is performed with difficulty." 

English testimony is quite as decisive. Captain John Mc- 
Neill Boyd, of the royal navy, candidly admits that "the objec- 
tions to wet decks are supported by the medical officers, with 
such a weight of evidence that they cannot be gainsaid, and if 
the mate of a deck does not think the health of the crew a matter 
of indifference, he may so arrange the process of cleaning as to 
prove that dry decks are not incompatible with health : ; " and in 
the Life of Collingwood, it is stated that "his flag-ship, with a 
crew of eight hundred men. was on one occasion more than a 
year and a half without going into port, and never had more than 
six on her sick-list. This result was occasioned by his system of 
arrangement and his attention to dryness, ventilation, etc.. but 
above all by the contented spirit of the sailors, who loved their 
commander as their protector and friend, well assured that at his 
hands they would receive justice and kindness, and that of their 
comforts he was more jealous than his own." 

The unanimity of our own medical corps in this matter, in- 
stead of attracting that attention and respect it deserves from 



42 Humidity. 



commanding and executive officers, is too often regarded as a 
simple perverse contrariety of opinion, having no other object 
than a mean and petty attempt to interfere with the routine of 
the ship; and this ungenerous belief will probably continue until 
the principles of hygiene are better understood by the officers of 
the other corps. The consequences of ignorance on this point 
were remarkably and conclusively demonstrated on board the 
Coast-Survey schooner Varina, during the autumn of i860, while 
anchored off the navy-yard at Brooklyn. The officers of this 
little vessel, desirous of emulating the customs of their huger 
men-of-war neighbors, scrubbed their decks every day without 
regard to weather. Numbers of her crew soon became ill with 
bronchial, pulmonary, and rheumatic affections, and at one time 
nearly a third of them had been sent to the hospital. As soon 
as the fact was represented to Captain (afterward Admiral) 
Foote, then executive officer of the yard, he ordered the wetting 
of the decks to be discontinued, from which time her sick-list 
rapidly diminished. 

A ship must be kept dry to be healthy; her crew must be 
healthful to be efficient. To promote this efficiency is alike the 
duty of medical officers as of commanders and lieutenants. But 
she must be kept clean, it is replied; cleanliness is likewise essen- 
tial to health. The daily wetting of the decks, however, is not 
evidence of cleanliness, but of dirt. That is an ill-managed ves- 
sel which becomes so quickly foul. A well-arranged ship and 
well-conducted crew do not accumulate dirt. When the weather 
or sea necessitates the eating of meals below, not a crumb should 
be spilled from a mess-cloth. The cooks at the galley should be 
required to remove grease as they let it fall. Tarpaulins should 
be spread whenever the hold is broken out. The cleaning of 
mess-things, blacking of boots, brushing of clothes, and every 
other operation that can occasion dirt, should be done in the 
open air. The unclean bertlvdeck is so only because of the in- 
attention or incapacity of the mate or other officer whose duty it 
is to take care of it. 



Humidity. 43 



Berth-decks and covered gun-decks do not require to be wet- 
ted oftener than once, or, at most, twice a month. They should 
then be cleaned thoroughly, and not upon any stated day, but 
when the weather is such as will justify it. A dry, clear, sunny 
day. after a prevalence of fine weather, is the most proper for the 
purpose. It should always be selected and indicated by the com- 
mander himself, who should solicit and be guided by the advice 
of the medical officer. . On these days all other exercises should 
be suspended. Every man, except the cooks' and such others as 
are engaged in the work, should be sent on deck with his bag 
and ditty-box, and should be compelled to remain there until the 
deck is thoroughly dried. Hot water should be supplied for the 
purpose from the galley, and the greatest care should be taken 
not to use it in such quantities as to overflow the coamings of the 
hatches into the hold. After scraping and scrubbing as much as 
is necessary, the greatest expedition should be made in removing 
the unclean water by squabs and squilgees, and then drying-stoves 
should be lighted and kept swinging until the decks are com- 
pletely dried. The hatchways should, all the while, have been 
wholly uncovered, wind-sails let down to the deck, ventilators 
worked, and, when possible, air-ports opened. In this way a 
lower deck may be properly cleaned with the least detriment to 
the health of the ship's company. 

When a prevalence of wet weather causes the decks to become 
damp, they should be scraped and drying-stoves should -be fre- 
quently lighted. No other process of cleaning should ever be 
tolerated- A practice prevails on board some vessels, which can- 
not be too strongly reprobated, of going over the berth-deck every 
morning with a wet swab, for what purpose it is difficult to under- 
stand except it be to maintain an appearance of having observed 
the ancient custom of daily scrubbing, the decadence of which 
some officers class with the abolition of the cat, as among the 
causes of the degeneracy of the Navy. 

Tire flying berth-decks of small vessels should be scrubbed and 
dried in the open air, as should also the hatch-covers, ladders, and 



44 Humidity. 



gratings of all other vessels which are wetted on any other than 
the day for the general cleaning of the lower decks. 

It is singular that while there is such difficulty in keeping water 
which finds an entrance from natural causes out of a vessel, there 
should be such a universal habit of deluging it above and below, 
and thus superadding an artificial and unnecessary cause of hu- 
midity. There is a general custom of wetting or "holy-stoning" 
the spar-deck every morning, which has been handed down from 
the past century, with other observances that are equally incon- 
sistent with the intelligence of this age. It is very proper to do 
this when the crew have soiled the deck with soap-suds by wash- 
ing clothes and scrubbing hammocks, and these occasions occur 
so frequently that there is no necessity for wetting it at other times, 
except after some special unclean work, as weighing anchor, coal- 
ing, provisioning, etc. 

Small vessels are habitually wet when under way. This can be 
partially obviated by greater care in fitting bucklers to the hawse- 
holes, and by calking the bridle-ports. 

In wet weather the officer of the deck should always promptly 
cause the boom-cover to be hauled out at sea, and the awnings 
to be spread and housed when in port, rather than- cover the 
hatchways with tarpaulins. 

In this connection I have to suggest a protection against get- 
ting* wet, which, to the disgrace of the educated officers of the 
present day, has not been already generally instituted — a hood 
for the head. Men are compelled to visit this place and sit ex- 
posed to no matter how heavy a rain or intense a sun. This is 
one of the most potent sources of disease on board ship. A 
man gets out of his warm hammock at night, and returns to it 
with his clothes drenched with water. His blankets and mat- 
tress become wet, and in vessels where bedding is aired but 
once in two or three months, they remain damp and foul all that 
time. On board small vessels without sick-bays and water- 
closets for the sick, invalids often refuse to use the close-stool in 
the vicinity of their shipmates' messes, and watch an opportu- 



Humidity, 45 



nity to elude the vigilance of the nurses and steal on deck. Very 
many cases of disease, mild in their incipiency, have been aggra- 
vated by this cruel exposure. Nothing can be easier than to 
provide a properly fitted tarpaulin or canvas cover for the head, 
which would not only defend from the rain, but from the spray 
continually breaking over the bows at sea. Even if unsightly, 
though it need not be so, a sacrifice of appearance is a small evil 
that will be productive of so much good. So many comforts 
have of late been instituted in cabins and ward-rooms that it 
were only generous to extend a semblance of them to the berth- 
deck and forecastle, where the customs of civilized life may be 
imitated without greater risk of effeminacy in the one case than in 
the other. 

Another cause of humidity on board ship is provisioning, 
wooding, or coaling in bad weather. Unless absolutely neces- 
sary, these operations should be conducted only on dry days. 
No wet or green wood, w r et or unclean casks, or wet coal should 
ever be allowed below the spar-deck. All coal and wood should 
have been kept under cover before being taken on board, and 
the latter should also have been deprived of its bark and baked. 
The hoops of all casks should also be barked, and the casks 
carefully swept prior to being sent below. It would be an addi- 
tional safeguard to whitewash them, and this could be repeated 
whenever the hold was broken out. In this way the hold and 
spirit-room may be kept perfectly clean and dry. 

It is a matter of controversy whether water should ever be 
purposely admitted into a vessel. It is manifestly improper 
when it is made a daily habit for the theoretical purpose of "keep- 
ing the vessel sweet," and the only occasion when it is allowable 
is when bilge- water has formed. In this case the latter should 
be pumped out, and fresh water admitted into the pump-well by 
a hose from the stop-cock in the ship's side, but not to exceed in 
amount the depth ascertained by the first sounding of the well 
This should then be discharged, a second supply of water ad- 
mitted and pumped out, and this operation should be repeated 



46 Humidity. 



until the discharge from the pump- well is free from smell. On 
board some vessels a very reprehensible practice exists of open- 
ing the magazine-cock and flooding the spirit-room and hold. 
Such vessels will always be troubled with bilge-water, which 
forms the more rapidly as these wettings are frequent. 

I would also urge the necessity of requiring hygrometric 
observations by the medical officers of every vessel in commis- 
sion, with a careful particularization of the attendant circum- 
stances, so as to establish on an indisputable basis of fact the 
propositions here advanced. These observations should be the 
duty of the assistant surgeon, and not be delegated to nurses 
or apothecaries, who would perform it in the same superficial 
manner as the quartermasters, who record the temperatures indi- 
cated by the dry and "wet-bob" thermometer. The points to 
be determined are the degree of relative humidity and the 
absolute weight of aqueous vapor in a cubic foot or litre of air. 
It is desirable that every medical officer, on duty on shore or 
afloat, should be required to make a detailed quarterly sanitary 
report, embracing not only a summary of these and other me- 
teorological observations, but precise information on all the 
•subjects that relate to the preservation of the health of the 
Navy, and which are certainly as important as the records of the 
failures to effect this object, as shown by the quarterly reports 
of sick and expenditure of medicines and medical stores neces* 
sary for their treatment. 



VENTILATION. 



It is scarcely possible on board ship to supply every man with 
the thousand cubic feet of space for air -which physiologists 
declare' to be the minimum that can be safely assigned, except 
when extraordinary provisions are in operation for its renewal, 
Probably no single-decked vessel in the service supplies one-third 
of that amount. The best- authorities agree that a healthy man 
requires a supply of twenty cubic feet of fresh air every minute, 
Hammond states that thirty to forty are desirable, and Professor 
Donkin places .the minimum at three thousand cubic feet per 
hour. According to Martin, "the constant movements going on 
in the atmosphere prove that the amount of change which 
nature has provided for healthy existence is unlimited. The test 
of ventilation in a sick-ward is the comparative freshness or purity 
of the air. The interesting experiment of Lariboisiere appears 
to prove that about four thousand cubic feet per hour are required 
to insure this." The amount of air which passes .through the 
lungs is variously estimated at from three hundred to four hun- 
dred and eighty cubic feet, four per cent, of which, at the ordi- 
nary rate of respiration, is carbon di-oxide, (carbonic acid gas,) 
that is, one hundred times as much as normally exists in the 
atmosphere, while -the proportion is largely increased when the 
latter is moist; consequently, were there no renewal of air by ven- 
tilation on board ship, one- day would suffice to make its atmos- 
phere irrespirable, since, according to Tankester, over six parts in 
ten thousand in a breathing atmosphere are adverse to comfort 
and obnoxious to health. The rapidity with which air is deterio- 
rated by respiration may be understood by imagining a room 
seven feet in size in each of its dimensions, and having; nearlv the 



48 Ventilation. 



cubic capacity of three hundred and fifty feet, which, containing 
normally about one gallon of carbon di-oxide, will, at the end of 
two hours, all apertures being closed, have this amount raised to 
ninety-two and a half gallons by the respiration of a single adult 
man, showing that every particle of that air had passed through 
his lungs. This, however, is not the only noxious element acquired 
by air in apartments which are defectively ventilated. Every 
act of expiration discharges a large amount of aqueous vapor, 
raising its quantity, according to Dr. Craig, of the United States 
Army, from one to seventeen grains in a cubic foot; elevates the 
general temperature of the air, and thus increases its absorbent 
power for vapors; and further, adds a variable amount of organic 
matters, the presence of which is distinctly enough indicated, 
even to the unprofessional observer who leans over the fore or 
main hatch toward the end of the first watch, by the heavy mawk- 
ish odor, which appeals to the sense of taste as- well as to that 
of smell. According to Gavarret, air thus vitiated is unfit for 
respiration, and may lead to serious accidents, not on account of 
the carbon di-oxide (carbonic acid gas) it contains, but from the 
mere presence of the putrid exhalations of the body, since organic » 
matter in stagnant air, as that of berth-decks, pUtrifies as rapidly 
as that in stagnant water. Fonssagrives believes "that air may 
yet supply the chemical needs of respiration in a place crowded 
with men, when from the organic miasms which impregnate it, it 
has already become a deleterious agent," and thus quotes Piorry: 
''That which is the most dangerous in the vitiated air of con- 
fined habitations we do not know ; chemistry does not inform us 
of it; but our senses, more delicate than chemistry, demonstrate 
to us, in. an evident manner, the presence of deleterious putrid 
matters in the air in which man has long resided.'' Nor is respi- 
ration the only human process which empoisons the air. The 
whole cutaneous surface imperceptibly, but ceaselessly, contributes 
a determinate amount of aqueous vapor, carbon di-oxide, and 
organic emanations. Furthermore, to produce these nocuous ele- 
ments, which are thus poured into the atmosphere, each adult on 



Ventilation. 4^ 



board ship, according to Dumas, completely disoxygenates twenty 
gallons of air every hour, requiring the hourly addition of more 
than a hundred gallons to simply restore its equilibrium, disturbed 
by this cause alone, without taking into account that necessary to 
wash away or dilute the morbific vapors and gases which have 
been added. Finally, the decomposition of provisions and ship's 
stores, especially coal, and that resulting from the admixture in the 
hold of fresh and salt water with the leakage of brine, molasses, 
vinegar, etc., all operate to deteriorate the atmosphere of the 
ship, not merely by the addition of the gaseous products of this 
decomposition, but, as in the case of the crew, by the direct 
removal of the oxygen, on which the fitness for respiration of the 
atmosphere depends. The problem of ventilation, therefore, is 
one of the most interesting and important that can occupy the 
naval hygienist. 

The greater number of our national vessels are overcrowded 
with men. Few can berth their whole complement. With ham- 
mock-hooks only fourteen inches apart, less than the breadth of 
a man's shoulders, with numbers swinging under the top-gallant- 
forecastle, many of our single-decked vessels, when both watches 
are below, as in port, still have a dozen or more men who are 
compelled to billet themselves on deck, behind mess-chests, or 
wherever else they can stow themselves away. Frequently ves- 
sels are sent home from distant stations cumbered with men whose 
terms of service have expired, with prisoners, and, with manifest 
impropriety, the accumulated chronic invalids of the squadron. 
The ship-fever of emigrant packets, and the typhus,' not uncom- 
mon on board men-of-war twenty years ago, and notably virulent 
among the transports employed during the Crimean war, were due to 
overcrowding. Fonssagrives narrates the case, among others, of the 
corvette La Fortune, which, having been employed in transporting 
Turkish troops, had two-thirds of her crew T prostrated by this dis- 
ease, of whom half were lost, and was obliged to land the rest at 
Messina. Even when the ill effects of overcrowding are not so 
disastrous and manifest, they are not compensated by any ad- 
4 N H 



Ventilation. 



vantage whatsoever. The effective number of the crew is reduced 
by a sick-list of from fifteen to twenty-five a day, and the invalids, 
who require to be returned to the United States, ultimately bring 
down the complement of men to the capacity of the vessel. All 
this additional expense, as well as the discomfort which a large 
sick-list necessarily occasions to the well, might be obviated by a 
reduction of the ship's company at the. outset. As the small 
gunboats and iron-clads are the worst circumstanced in every 
sanitary respect, and besides being officered by young and inex- 
perienced men are, in consequence of their lightness of draught, 
often required to cruise up narrow rivers and in unhealthy locali- 
ties, they present, relatively, the largest number of disabled men, 
and thus have their effectiveness seriously impaired ; hence, while 
especial care should be taken to provide for the proper .ventilation, 
cleanliness, etc., of this class of vessels, it is desirable to limit their 
complements of men and officers to the smallest numbers abso- 
lutely necessary to work them, introducing every possible labor- 
saving appliance known to the nautical art, and dispensing with 
superfluous attendants by diminishing the number of officers' 
messes ; and furthermore to change their crews annually by trans- 
ferring them to the larger vessels of the squadron. 
» Very little attention is paid to the subject of ventilation by 
officers of the Navy. I have heard them express incredulity 
when told there was danger from battening down hatches two 
or three days continuously, and I have seen a boy confined for 
some trifling offense six hours at a time for several successive 
days in a narrow " sweat-box," with only a few perforations at the 
top of the door, and none at the bottom or sides, and where, 
after sinking from fatigue below the level of the holes, he had to 
breathe an atmosphere as fraught with danger to his life as that of 
the most dreaded plague-ridden spot on earth. 

The neglect to provide proper means of ventilation has been 
often attended with rapidly fatal consequences. The case of the 
Black Hole of Calcutta, where one hundred and twenty-three 
persons out of one hundred and forty-six died after one night's 



Ventilation. 51 



confinement in a room eighteen feet square, provided with only 
two small windows, is familiar to every reader. Of three hun- 
dred Austrian prisoners confined in one room after the battle of 
Austerlitz, two hundred and sixty died; and Carpenter narrates 
an equally horrible catastrophe which occurred afloat : " On the 
night of the 1st December, 1848, the deck passengers on board 
the Irish steamer Londonderry were ordered below by the captain 
on account of the stormy character of the weather, and although 
they were crowded into a cabin far too small for their accommo- 
dation, the hatches were closed down upon them and the conse- 
quence was that out of one hundred and fifty individuals, no fewer 
than seventy were suffocated before the morning." Instances of 
less severity are of common occurrence on board men-of-war. On 
one occasion, nine or ten prisoners were confined in the main hold 
of a single-deck sloop-of-war and half of the hatch closed over 
them. At the end of four hours one of the men was taken out 
asphyxiated, and resuscitated with difficulty. The occupants of 
" sweat-boxes " have often been found almost lifeless or have fallen 
out insensible as the doors were opened. Dr. Billings, of the United 
States Army, in his report on barracks and hospitals, published in 
Circular No. 4, from the Surgeon General's Office, refers to in- 
stances of exhaustion and insensibility from confinement in 
''• sweat-boxes," as experimental evidence in determining the min- 
imum amount of air on which life can be supported. In the same 
able report, he fixes the proper allowance of fresh air for soldiers 
in barracks at two thousand cubic feet per hour for each man. 
It is useless to expect to violate with impunity the immutable laws 
of our existence, ancl therefore, so long as the circumstances of 
our nature require the inspiration of oxygen into the lungs and 
the ingestion of food in the stomach, it will be just as impossible 
to compel sailors to do without the one and be healthy, as to 
abstain from the other and live. Statistical inquiries on mortality 
prove beyond a doubt that of all the causes of death which 
usually are in action, impurity of the air is the most important. 
Guy states, in his recently published lectures on public health, as 



52 - Ventilation. 



the results of a laborious inquiry into the health of letter-press 
printers, and of others following in-door occupations, " that out of 
thirty-six thousand deaths a year in England and Wales, which I 
attributed to true pulmonary consumption, five thousand might 
be saved by increased space and improved ventilation in shops, 
work-shops, and factories ; that among men doing the same work 
under the same roof, the liability to consumption was determined 
by the space ; and that this might be narrowed to a point at which 
men would die as fast as by some contagious malady, so that 
here, as in Italy, consumption might seem to pass from one person 
to another." According to Dr. Parkes, the extraordinary amount 
of consumption which prevails among the men of the royal and 
merchant navies, and which in some men-of-war has amounted to 
a veritable epidemic, is m all probability attributable to faulty 
ventilation. I have remarked the same excess of tubercular dis- 
ease of the lungs in our own naval service, and injustice has 
undoubtedly been done in many cases of phthisis pulmonalis 
which were certified " not to have occurred in the line of duty," 
but assumed to have had a remote inherited origin, when the 
disease was in fact directly attributable to the unwholesome and 
humid air they were compelled to respire, for the researches of 
Bowditch and Buchanan show th#t, independently of mere 
impurity of the atmosphere, there is a decided relation of cause 
and effect between dampness and consumption. The nosological 
heading " phthisis," on the quarterly report of sick, often repre- 
sents only advanced cases of the disease, and not all of these, 
many being carelessly recorded as bronchitis chronica, while a 
very large proportion of incipient pulmonary- tubercle is simply 
classed as bronchitis acuta or catarrhus. Constitutional predis- 
position assuredly existed in some of these, but the majority 
might have escaped the development of the disease had they 
lived under proper hygienic conditions, especially with regard to 
a sufficient supply of pure air. 

Notwithstanding the importance of this matter of ventilation, 
few officers trouble themselves about it further than to order • 



Ventilation. 53 



the wind-sails set when the weather is fine. These are certainly 
among the most important ventilating apparatus we possess, 
but they are seldom set in wet, cold, or very windy weather, 
although a larger proportion of the crew is below at these times, 
when the hatchwa'ys are also usually partly covered up. On 
many of these occasions they could be kept hoisted without 
inconvenience. They ought not to be lowered at every fresh 
breeze or rain-squall. A fire-tub placed under the foot of the 
wind-sail and watched would prevent the deck from becoming 
flooded with water, and in cold weather the men had better 
protect themselves by extra clothing than keep warm by confin- 
ing and corrupting the atmosphere; for though the human odor 
is not perceptible when the temperature is low, the air is still 
loaded with organic matter, and disoxygenation and the exhala- 
tion of carbon di-oxide go on as at other times. Steamships are 
now generally heated by coils of steam-pipes, and if proper 
apertures are provided for the discharge of the heated and access 
of fresh air, they become excellent aids to ventilation. Wind- 
sails, of which there cannot be too many, require to be carefully 
watched while set. They should always be accurately trimmed 
to the wind, kept free from bends, and fastened down not more 
than a foot from the deck, never triced up by a lanyard to the 
beams. When the latter is done, those men who sleep exposed to 
the currents of air through them are apt to contract catarrhal affec- 
tions. The bottom piece, sometimes added for ornament, should 
always be removed, a hoop taking its place, and large fenes- 
trated openings being made in the sides of the wind-sail above 
the hoop. They should be hoisted however light .the air, even 
in calms, when all the fore and aft sails should be set with their 
sheets hauled as flat as they can be got, not merely to assist in 
steadying the vessel, but to create a movement in the atmos- 
phere through the rolling of the ship. In narrow rivers and 
inlets, ships at anchor should be sprung to the wind whenever 
feasible, the broadside of the vessel with its numerous apertures 
affording a very much greater surface for the admission of air 



54 Ventilation. 



than the bows, and the wind-sails not operating to becalm each 
other as when the wind is right ahead. On some stations, as 
Japan, this is a subject of stringent regulation on board the 
British men-of-war. A scuttle admitting a wind-sail or ventilator 
should always open into the sick-bay and yeoman's store-room, 
the latter the worst ventilated apartment in the vessel, its atmos- 
phere being rendered still more impure by one or two lights kept 
constantly burning. When it is absolutely necessary to cover 
them, light iron gratings over all the hatchways are better than 
the ordinary heavy wooden covers or gratings, being mgre easily 
cleaned, and allowing larger apertures for the admission of air. 
When sailing-vessels are under way with courses and spencers 
set, powerful currents of air are directed downward through the 
open hatches. In steamers this is, in a measure, compensated for 
by the upward current induced by the elevation of the tempera- 
ture of the engine-room atmosphere ; but during the long anchor- 
ages in port, and especially during calm weather, when wind-sails 
are of little service, the galley-fire, should it be located on the 
berth-deck, is the only means for exciting motion in the stratum 
of air below the level of 'the lowest line of air-ports. Two or 
more large iron ventilating pipes or funnels, like those com- 
municating with the fire-room on board passenger steamers and 
steam-vessels, in the Navy, should open on the berth-deck. In 
severe gales it is occasionally necessary to batten down all the 
hatches, closing every aperture by which air or water can enter, 
except a small scuttle in the main and steerage hatches, and at 
other times this has been done as a mere measure of precaution. 
In such cases the atmosphere soon becomes unfit for respiration, 
and much suffering is .occasioned and danger incurred by the sick, 
and those whose duties confine them below. Much of this 
inconvenience, as well as that experienced from covering the 
hatches and skylights during the long rainy seasons of so many 
of the stations of our naval vessels would be obviated by venti- 
lating-funnels, projecting six or eight feet above the spar-deck 
and fitted with movable cowls, carefully adjusted to the wind 



Vetitilation, 



55 



When the hatches are battened down, both watches should be 
kept on deck, and the watch off duty allowed to sleep on the 
poop or other convenient dry place. The officers should also be 
required to remain in the open air, and the bed-ridden sick be 
removed to the spar-deck cabin, or to some equally sheltered and 
ventilated place when there is no such apartment. 

Nor is this all that can be done toward ventilating a vessel. It 
is not merely sufficient to provide for the admission of fresh air, 
but that which is impure should be removed. It is discreditable 
to the mechanical ingenuity of our country that so few attempts 
have been made to devise machines which can effect this, double 
purpose. On board steamers the problem would seem to be very 
easy of solution, air being propelled through a system of pipes 
traversing the vessel, and even kept in motion by punkahs or fans 
operated by the machinery when under way, or by a donkey- 
engine when at anchor. The officers of the French navy have 
taken the lead in this matter, commanding as well as medical 
officers having interested themselves in it. The apparatus of 
Captain Brindejonc and that of M. Peyre, though both of small 
size, are fully able to accomplish the objects proposed. The 
principle of the first is the same as that of the ordinary rotary fan 
ventilator, recently placed on board some of our vessels, a number 
of fans being made to revolve by means of a crank, in a cylinder, 
from which canvas tubes lead above and below for the admission 
and discharge of air. Though occupying but a small space and 
employing the labor of only one- or two men a few hours every 
, day, it is able to effectually supply every part of the vessel with 
fresh air. I have been attached to but one vessel in the - Navy 
which has been provided with this apparatus, and even on board 
this ship, notwithstanding my repeated recommendations, it was 
only put in operation on two or three occasions, and then prin- 
cipally as a punishment for black-listers. Certainly, as a system 
of punishment, it is better to employ men at this work than, as 
may be daily seen, at polishing round-shot, scraping, painting, 
and rescraping iron stanchions, walking up and down the deck 



Ventilation. 



carrying heavy loads, or sitting idly in the brig with their hands 
and legs ironed, rejoicing in their exemption from labor. Simple 
as is this apparatus in its construction, it is necessary to pay atten- 
tion to the freedom of the tubes from bends and to the direction 
in which they are led, while to produce a current of sufficient 
velocity, that is, one moving at least two feet per minute, the 
cranks should be turned with considerable rapidity. If two appa- 
ratus are put in operation at the same time, as is desirable, one 
should be used forward and the other aft, the one discharging air 
from below, while the other forces it from above, reversing the 
direction of the currents every hour. 

A captain in the French navy has devised a system of stowage 
known as the "Arrimage Lugeol," by which the flour, salt, pro- 
visions, bean -lockers, rigging, and every other substance in the 
hold subject to decomposition, are surrounded by aeriferous 
canals. By wind-sails or ventilators introduced into these pas- 
sages, currents of pure dry air may be distributed through every 
part of the vessel, thus not only contributing to the health of the 
crew, but also to the preservation of the provisions and other de- 
structible stores. Such vessels are less apt to be overrun by 
roaches and other vermin, which are active sources of offensive- 
ness. As our own vessels are constructed ? all that can be done is 
to open the spirit -room, holds, sail-room, etc., every few days in 
pleasant wxather, lower wind-sails into them, and at other times 
renew their atmosphere by the fan ventilators. The superior 
means of cleansing and ventilating the decks, holds, bilges, in- 
terspaces of the ribs, and those under the engine-rooms, which t 
have been introduced into the British service, are advanced im- 
provements, from which Dr. Smart declares " high results may 
be reckoned, and as these means are perfected, so we may calcu- 
late on a reduced rate of sickness and a diminished mortality 
from yellow and remittent fevers, dysentery and broncho-pneu- 
monia, to which may be assigned three-fourths of the present large 
amount of phthisis." 

The private mess-stores of officers contribute greatly to vitiate 



Ventilation. 5 7 



• the air of the lower decks. The ward-room and other pantries, and 
the various store-rooms on the berth-deck and orlop contain eggs, 
fresh meats, and vegetables, which decompose rapidly and become 
very offensive. These rooms should all be accessible to air, 
through numerous openings in the bulk-heads, and 'they should 
also be opened and ventilated several times a week. I have 
already suggested the desirability of latticing all the bulk-heads 
on the berth and gun-decks to permit the free circulation of air 
forward and aft. 

If proper attention is paid to these points, there will seldom be 
occasion for the employment of chemical disinfectants. Dryness, 
cleanliness, and ventilation are the most powerful disinfecting 
means. The holds, spirit-room, and store-rooms for provisions 
should be whitewashed every month, as well as all casks which 
are stowed below, and whenever these are broken out for the pur- 
pose of taking an inventory or for cleaning the hold, they should 
be swept and re-whitewashed. Whitewash should also be used 
on the berth-deck beams and bulk-heads instead of paint. By 
absorbing carbon di-oxide, it assists in purifying the air. Lead 
nitrate, chlorinated lime and soda, carbolic acid, etc., are never 
more than aids to proper ventilation. They can never be carried 
in bulk sufficient to be serviceable alone, and, besides, their effects 
are only temporary. 



LIGHT 



Light is a powerful vital stimulant. Removed from its influ- 
ence, both plants and animals lose color, strength, and firmness of 
tissue. " Of ail the elements which play a high part in the ma- 
terial universe, the light which emanates from the sun is certainly 
the most remarkable, whether we view it in its sanitary or scien- 
tific relations. It is, to speak metaphorically, the very life-blood 
of nature, without which everything material would fade and per- 
ish. Man in his most perfect type is doubtless to be found in the 
regions of the globe where the solar influences of light, heat, and 
chemical rays are so nicely balanced. Under the scorching heat 
of the tropics man cannot call into exercise his highest powers. 
The calorific rays are all-powerful there, and lassitude of body 
and immaturity of mind are its necessary results; while, in the 
darkness of the polar regions, the distinctive characters of our 
species almost disappear in the absence of those solar influences 
which are so powerful in the organic world." — (Sir J. Ranald 
Martin.) According to Dr. Edwards, the proper development of 
the body depends upon its free exposure. to sunlight, absence of 
which he considers one of the external causes of those deficiencies 
of form seen in children affected with scrofula. The feeble, puny, 
and deformed offspring of those people who habitually live under- 
ground in cellars, caves, and mines, and in a less degree, of the 
dwellers in dark lanes and alleys, and of the inhabitants of the 
frigid zone, is due to the deprivation of light as well as to unclean - 
liness, starvation, and defective ventilation. 

The greater part of the crew of a man-of-war has sufficient em- 
ployment in the open air, but there are numerous individuals on 
board ship, whose special duties confine them below all day, who 
exhibit the pallid exsanguious appearance, the effect of habitually 



Light. 59 

remaining in the dim twilight of the lower decks. All such per- 
sons should be permitted, or, if necessary, compelled, to go on deck 
and expose themselves to the sunlight every day. Recovery from 
disease is accelerated by the beneficial influence of this agent. 
The occupant of a bright and consequently cheerful sick-cham- 
ber will leave it sooner and have less the aspect of an invalid 
than one who lies in continual shade behind heavy draperies in a 
gloomy apartment. So the sick and convalescent on board ship 
will improve more rapidly if kept on deck as much as possible, 
those unable to walk being placed in chairs or cots under the top- 
gallant forecastle, the break of the poop, or quarter-deck awning. 

All the lower decks will be better illuminated by thick plates of 
glass set in the deck overhead. The only objection that can be 
opposed to them is that they are apt to leak, but this can easily 
be remedied by a renewal of the setting. 

Artificial light is more injurious than beneficial. Every lamp 
and candle is an active consumer of oxygen, and therefore con- 
tributes to vitiate the air. Hammond's experiment shows that a 
single good sperm candle, burning at the rate of 135 grains an 
hour, will produce 9,504 grains (nearly 69 gallons or 11.6 cubic 
feet) of carbon di-oxide in twenty-four hours; and as many candles 
burn faster and produce more carbonic acid gas, it is within the 
bounds of fact to say that a candle, while burning, in the main 
causes as great a deterioration of the atmosphere as an adult per- 
son breathing in it during a similar length of time. Hence the 
minimum number of lights absolutely. necessary should be placed 
on the berth-deck, and these always under open hatchways, that 
the upward current of the heated gaseous products of their com- 
bustion may assist the ventilation of the deck. Those officers who 
confine themselves to their rooms not only experience the per- 
nicious effects of breathing an impure atmosphere, but have their 
sight impaired by the flickering blaze constantly near, their eyes. • 
Deck-lights of thick glass over their apartments would often en- 
able them to dispense with the use of candles. 

Another advantage attending the employment of whitewash on 



6o Light. 

the berth-deck, besides its effect in purifying the air, is that it multi- 
plies the light admitted by the ports and hatchways. All the furni- 
ture of officers' appartments and of the ward-room and steerages 
should be painted white, the otherwise unpleasant uniformity being 
relieved by a little gilded molding or ornamental decoration with 
bright colors. On the spar-deck an excess of white or metal 
^bright-work is objectionable, and should give place to light-blues, 
greens, or yellows, or to the natural color of the wood. 



CLOTHING 



Every man in the Navy should be required to possess the fol- 
lowing articles of clothing: 

One water-proof cap. 
t One water-proof pea-jacket. 

One pair of blue cloth trousers. 

Two pairs of blue satinet trousers. 

Three blue flannel overshirts. 

Four blue flannel undershirts. 

Four blue flannel drawers. 

Three white sheeting frocks. 

Three pairs of white duck trousers , 

One blue flannel jumper. 

Four pairs of woolen socks. 

One pair of boots. 

One pair of shoes. 

One straw hat. 

One black silk neckerchief, 

One mattress. 

Two blankets. 

Of which there should be supplied to the recruit, as an outfit, 
the pea-jacket, cap, neckerchief, shoes, mattress, and blankets, 
one pair of cloth and one of satinet trousers, a flannel overshirt, 
two undershirts, two pairs of drawers, and two of socks. Al- 
though only these things may be required at the outset, it is 
indispensable that the remainder be obtained as soon thereafter 
as possible, that the proper changes may be made in the event 
of getting wet. The British admiralty, with a view of lessening 
the indebtedness which men have to incur on entering the service, 



62 Clothing. 



has authorized the gratuitous presentation to certain recruits of a 
blue cloth jacket and pair of trousers, a blue serge frock, a white 
duck frock and trousers, a black silk neckerchief, and a pair of 
shoes. 

Many sailors prefer to buy the materials from the paymaster 
and make their own clothing, being able to fit themselves better 
and to sew them together more neatly and enduringly. This 
affords occupation for the crew, and should, if only on that 
account, be encouraged. One of the most interesting spectacles 
presented on board a man-of-war is that of groups of men seated 
on their ditty-boxes between the guns busily sewing. % 

I have restricted the number of white clothes because they 
are seldom worn, on board some vessels never, and ought to be 
abolished. Their chief use is as a Sunday morning mustering- 
dress in the tropics, but in recent years the whim of the execu- 
tive officer of the flag-ship, or in its absence, of the vessel, 
determines whether the dress shall be white shirts and pants, 
blue shirts and white pants, white shirts and blue pants, or blue 
shirts and pants, apparently more for the sake of variety than 
.anything else, straw hats and blue caps, with or without white 
covers, extending the number of permutations. The absurdity 
of requiring a man to clothe his legs in flannel and his arms in 
white duck to-day, while to-morrow he is blue above and white 
below, ought to be evident to even the non-professional, as it is 
to the old quartermaster whose "rheumatiz" is made to shift 
from his shoulders to his loins and back again; but I have 
known ships on board which the daily dress-signal followed the 
card as regularly as the paymaster's stewards did in issuing the 
appropriate ration for the day. Whether white is or is not worn, 
under no circumstances, in no climate, ought the sailor to omit 
wearing flannel next the skin. This is a hygienic measure of the 
utmost importance, and should invariably be insisted upon. The 
flannel abdominal belt has been recommended as a substitute, 
but it is difficult to keep in position, and while doubtless of great 
benefit where dysentery is apt to occur, does not offer the same 



Clothing. 63 



protection against pulmonary complaints and malarial diseases 
as the complete flannel suit. The single argument in favor of 
white is that it absorbs and transmits less solar heat, and is there- 
fore cooler than blue; but if worn for this reason, the whole suit 
should be white and made of flannel, for the additional woolen 
under-clothing will more than counterbalance the advantage of 
the light-colored outside garment. The white dress as now worn 
is a useless expense and an unnecessary addition to the bag, and 
boys and landsmen will elude observation and wear no other 
clothing. In very hot weather both flannel under and overshirts 
may be left off, and a neat light flannel jumper substituted. If 
caps are worn in the tropics, they should be covered with white, 
but a light straw hat is the proper article of head-gear. The 
weight of the coarse sennit hat made on board ship is objection- 
able. If men are sent aloft or exposed to the sun on deck in the 
tropics, they should be advised to gut wet handkerchiefs or cloths 
inside their hats, and allow a flap like an army havelock to fall 
over the neck. 

Neatness and cleanliness of dress are always to be inculcated. 
Clothing should be kept in order. The custom of allowing men 
to have their bags on deck once a week, usually on Saturday, 
should be universal, and departed from only in emergencies. 
Clothes-lockers have been proposed as substitutes for bags, but 
the change is not desirable. The latter are more convenient, - 
protect. the clothes better from dampness, and can be taken on 
deck, and their contents exposed to the sun and air. They pre- 
vent the accumulation of dirt, unavoidable in lockers, and a not 
less important advantage is that they do not encroach so much 
on the air-space of the vessel. • Their removal on deck, when 
the berth-deck is cleaned, allows the access of air to their racks. 
Ditty-boxes or bags are conveniences which every man should 
be permitted, preferably the former, since they can be arranged 
not only for sewing-articles, shaving-utensils, trinkets, and writing- 
materials, but may also serve as desks and stools. It would be 
well for the Government to supply them of uniform size, num- 



64 Clothing. 

bered with the bags. When not in use, they should be carefully 
stowed away in racks assigned for them. 

The sailor can easily be taught habits of order and regularity. 
In a well-disciplined man-of-war the whole crew soon acquires 
them. If a berth-deck is always dry and clean, every bag and 
ditty-box in its place, the master-at-arms will have very little 
trouble with the men themselves. A few lazy, worthless fellows, 
however, if allowed to go unchecked, will inconvenience and 
confuse all the rest. The berth-deck is the man's home; his bag 
and ditty-box are to him what the privacy of the officer's room 
is to the latter, and it is, therefore, proper that he should enjoy 
as much comfort there as is possible under the peculiar circum- 
stances of his life. 

Under-clothing should be frequently changed. This does not 
require argument, yet it is a matter to which not the slightest 
attention is paid in the service. The officers' servants, landsmen, 
and many of the foreigners in the crew are habitually unclean, 
both in person and dress, and require careful supervision. Few 
of them provide themselves with proper outfits except by com- 
pulsion. They will keep a clean mustering suit, which they re- 
move immediately after inspection, and a few clean articles in 
their bags to satisfy the quarterly examination of their contents, 
and will wear the same pair of drawers and socks for months. 
• One of the most important duties of division officers is to attend 
to their men being properly provided with clothing, and it is 
equally important that, at every morning inspection at quarters, 
they should ascertain whether they are cleanly clad. It will soon 
be evident which men are habitually clean and neat, and which 
will require examination. Sufficiently frequent opportunities 
should be allowed for washing and drying clothes. At sea, un- 
less the weather is very bad, this may be done daily; in port, 
twice a week. New navy-blue flannel requires frequent washing 
before the color ceases to come out, and men's skins and blan- 
kets are usually dyed an intense blue for several weeks when this 
is not done. 



Clothing. 65 



I have, already insisted upon the necessity of keeping a vessel 
dry, and have indicated the means by which this object may be 
attained. I have omitted until this place to refer to the subject of 
damp clothing. Certain officers profess to believe it an attempt 
to make men delicate to insist that they shall remove their wet 
clothes, and point to the impunity with which some men continue 
in them for days. Where there is one such exception, there are 
many who succumb, sooner or later, and appear at the sick-bay. 
The French Departement de la Marine 'has not considered* this 
matter unworthy of its interference. The ordonnance of August 
15, 1 85 1, prescribes that the watch officers shall see that the men 
do not keep on their wet clothes when their watch is over, and 
that they shall enter on the log all such accidental changes of 
dress. In bad weather, when the watch is piped down, and at 
all times when boats' crews return wet, let them be compelled to 
remove their wet clothes and deposit them in fire-tubs. The 
provision of outfit which I have recommended will allow three 
changes. Should' the rain continue, and no occasion offer for 
drying the wet clothes, let each man remove his damp outershirt 
and trousers on turning in, and hang them on his hammock-hooks, 
to be resumed when he returns on deck. Men should not be 
allowed to expose themselves needlessly. Every one should be 
provided with a water-proof overcoat, and if the weather is not 
cold, be required to remove shoes and stockings. If too cold to 
go barefoot, boots should be worn. Similar precautions about 
wet feet should be exacted while washing decks. Few old 
sailors keep on their shoes when at this work, but landsmen and 
merchant sailors shipped for the first time., too lazy to take them 
off, will not do so unless compelled. 



5 N H 



PERSONAL CLEANLINESS. 



Occasionally a man notoriously filthy is ordered to be scrubbed 
in the head, or the negro servants are inspected during the morning 
watch by the master-at-arms; but beyond this, I have never wit- 
nessed nor heard of any inquiry by officers into the bodily con- 
dition of the crew. If a man's cutlass is bright and his overshirt 
clean, the inspecting officer is satisfied, although his axillae, groins, 
and perinaeum may be abominably dirty and verminous, his 
under-garments unclean and unchanged for weeks, and his bed- 
ding disgustingly foul and offensive. Even when some one with 
sensitive nostrils has obtained an order for the daily inspection of 
the ward-room boys, they are only compelled to strip to the waist, 
and if the collars of their shirts and wristbands are not very much 
soiled, they are pronounced clean, although their genitals, but- 
tocks, and thighs have not been touched with water during the 
whole cruise. I have known officers' servants to come under 
treatment at the sick-bay, and to be discovered to have worn the 
same pair of drawers, night and day, for months. 

It is not altogether the fault of the men that this is so. The 
human beast requires to be taught to be cleanly. Physicians know 
that sordid bodies, as well as sordid minds, are found even among 
the possessors of wealth and the occupants of prominent stations 
in society. Bring the rude, illiterate sailor, therefore, on board ship, 
still reeking with the foulness of the slums whence the land-shark 
has beguiled him, compel him to live, eat, and sleep uncleanly, 
deprive him of every semblance of personal comfort, never appeal 
to his reason or intelligence, but teach him that he is nothing but a 
slave or beast of burden — what result may be expected ? Seamen 
are naturally careless. Left to themselves, they will neglect them- 



Perso?ial Cleanliness. 67 

selves. Some few men-of-war's men are exceptions, but the great 
majority of patients admitted into the naval hospitals from before 
the mast are shamefully unclean. Always the first, and sometimes 
the only, prescription they require is a warm bath and clean shift of 
clothing. What physician would ever think of attempting to 
accomplish a diaphoretic effect upon the begrimed, callous, hide- 
like cuticle of most sailors, until he has dissolved off as much as 
possible of it with warm water and soap, or borax ? Yet I have 
heard officers frequently joke about the appearance of these dirt- 
encased fellows, and laughingly describe them as " veritable old 
shell-backs," or as " covered with barnacles." 

Ninety, per cent, of the men presenting themselves at the naval 
rendezvous are filthy in person, and every medical officer should 
refuse to examine them in such a condition; and even after pass- 
ing them he should direct them to bathe again before reporting 
on board the receiving-ship, otherwise they will remain dirty, will 
be transferred to some sea-going vessel in the same state, vermin 
on their bodies and in their hair, and they will continue so until 
they are discharged or become sick and are sent to a naval hos- 
pital and subjected to a compulsory bath. 

When swimming is possible or allowed, usually about twenty 
or thirty of the crew avail themselves of it as a diversion, but 
months sometimes intervene between these opportunities. The 
customary usual time for washing is during the morning watch, after 
the decks are " holy-stoned." Some of the men strip to the waist, 
and wash their necks, arms, breasts, axillae, and feet, but the greater 
number do not. Scarcely any ever cleanse their thighs, groins, 
or buttocks. Officers of divisions are responsible for the unclean 
condition of their men. They should require them to present 
themselves at the morning inspection, not only with clean outer- 
apparel, but with clean under-clothing and clean skins. They can 
perform this duty without any abasement of dignity. It is less 
disagreeable for the division officer to make this inspection than 
for the medical officer to introduce his finger into that same 
officer's rectum, if he has fistula ani, or to labor by the hour to 



68 Personal Cleanliness. 



dilate his strictured urethra. Many duties are unpleasant, but 
the object in view should reconcile us to their performance. Very 
properly, in ports where prostitutes are subject to examination, no 
man is allowed access to them until the medical officers are satis- 
fied of his own exemption from venereal disease, and no greater 
outrage is committed upon the man's modesty when he is required 
to satisfy the officer of his division that he is clean in person. 
False modesty cloaks both vice and dirt, and the man who makes 
the loudest outcry about outraged sensibilities will be found to 
have the strongest reasons for avoiding exposure. Habitually 
clean men will very soon be discovered and relieved from exam- 
ination; others will be shamed into an attention- to their persons 
that they had never been taught at home "nor seen practiced else- 
where; while the incorrigibly foul will be isolated and cleansed 
by force. It is not proposed that the men at quarters shall 
unbutton their pantaloons and submit to a close scrutiny of every 
square inch of their surfaces every day; but their spare under- 
clothing should be frequently and carefully inspected. Provision 
should be made to allow general ablution by every man on board, 
and the divisional officer should satisfy himself in as private and 
delicate a manner as possible that this has actually and thoroughly 
been done. No man should be allowed to remain, as is often 
the case, for weeks with his skin of a deep-blue color from the • 
dye-stuff of his rarely-washed new -flannel shirt and drawers, and, 
in tropical climates, daily general ablution should be exacted of 
every member of the crew. If objection is made to the con- 
struction of a proper permanent bathing apparatus, a large fire- 
tub may be placed under the top-gallant forecastle, or in the 
manger, or in some other convenient situation, and surrounded 
by a screen, or the head-pump may be screened at certain times 
in the day and devoted to this purpose. In vessels where con- 
densed water can be obtained in quantities, this should be used 
in preference to salt-water. Every man shoifld be required to 
possess one or more towels, which should appear among the pay- 
master's stores, and facilities should be afforded every day for 



Personal Cleanliness. 69 



drying them. If a " sweat-rag," as the little piece of sheeting is 
termed, which some men use, is now seen flying anywhere to dry, 
it is immediately ordered down, even while the spans of the 
■quarter-boats are fluttering with officers' towels. When the 
clothes-lines are not up, the men usually spread their "sweat-rags " 
upon their shoulders and back, and dry them there. 

The hair, beard, and teeth are all neglected on board ship. 
It would be a difficult matter to compel old sailors to cleanse 
their teeth, but all the boys should be obliged to purchase tooth- 
brushes, and to use them regularly. 

Firemen and coal-heavers should be compelled to bathe every 
day, when the vessel is steaming, but not immediately after quit- 
ting their stations. Cardiac diseases, pulmonary affections, acute 
inflammations, etc., are common among this class from their 
imprudent exposure to cool draughts, and from washing with 
cold water while their bodies are heated. The engineer on 
duty should attend personally to the disposition of men who 
come off watch, and not allow them to throw themselves under 
the ventilators, nor to bathe until a proper time has elapsed. 



FOOD 



No objection can be urged against the quantity of food fur- 
nished by the Government, nor, if inspectors continue to do 
their duty as faithfully as at present, to its quality. That enough 
is supplied by the ration is evidenced by the amount thrown 
overboard by the cooks, and by the fact that there are few messes 
which do not commute one or more of their rations. The Gov- 
ernment authorizes this to the extent of two rations for every ten 
men. It is idle to speculate upon the amount of carbon, oxygen, 
hydrogen, and nitrogen required to supply the waste of the body, 
and to endeavor to arrive, by chemical analysis, at the precise 
number of grains a man should be given to eat. The molecular 
waste of tissue depends upon climate, physical exertion, and 
health; but the naval ration undoubtedly supplies the maximum 
under any circumstances. The robust appearance of an Ameri- 
can man-of-war's crew attests this fact, as do the zest and excla- 
mations of surprise and delight with which foreign sailors partake 
of it when invited. In the French n^vy each man receives less 
than half a pound (214 grammes) of meat a day, and only 3.3 
pounds (1,500 grammes) of animal food (beef, bacon, and cheese) 
and 16.5 pounds (7.5 kilogrammes) of vegetable substances 
(beans, peas, and rice) a week. In the American service each 
man gets every week from six and a half pounds of the former 
(beef, pork, and preserved meats) at sea, to eight and three- 
quarters pounds of fresh meat in port, and eleven of vegetables, 
(beans, rice, flour, dried fruit, desiccated potatoes, and mixed 
vegetables,) with a liberal allowance of sugar, molasses, vinegar, 
and pickles. This ration has been instituted sufficiently long for 
its effects upon the health on long cruises to be manifested. 



Food. 7 1 

That the former ration was not exactly what the human body 
required for its healthy maintenance was evident from the disturb- 
ances occasioned by its persistent use; but on two days on which 
salt beef and rice were then served out,' preserved meats and 
vegetables are now substituted. The change leaves scarcely any 
other improvements to be suggested, except a more frequent 
issue of preserved beef or other meat in lieu of salt, an increase 
in the allowance of coffee and butter, and a further extension of 
variety in vegetables by the occasional substitution of peaches, 
sauer-kraut, and cranberries for dried apples. With these excep- 
tions it is probably the best that can be devised, for temperate 
climates at least, to meet all the requirements of economy of 
space, capability of resisting decomposition, palatability and ali- 
mentariness, until experiments now being made with the object 
of preserving fresh meat by the abstraction of its moisture, allow 
the total abolition of salt meat as an article of diet. Dr. Alex- 
ander Rattray, surgeon Royal Navy, in an admirable report 
published by the admiralty, in their annual volume on the health 
of the British navy, has called attention to the injurious conse- 
quences of the use of salted meat, which he correctly styles an 
unnatural form of food, and which he recommends to be almost 
entirely displaced by preserved meat. Commanding officers 
should eagerly embrace every occasion of going into port or of 
speaking vessels at sea to obtain supplies of fresh meat and suc- 
culent vegetables. One pound and a quarter of fresh or three- 
quarters of a pound of preserved meat,«which should not always 
be beef, may be substituted for a pound of salt; one pound of 
soft bread or of flour for the daily allowance of ship-biscuit; and 
fresh vegetables not to exceed in value the dried, When the 
stay in port is prolonged beyond a fortnight, salt food may be 
issued twice a week. Dr. Rattray has proposed a radical change 
in the British naval dietary, arranging it for temperate and tropi- 
cal climates, for harbor and for sea. One prolific source of the 
disease in the Navy, on notoriously unhealthy tropical stations, is 
the neglect to adapt the diet, dress, and labor to the necessities 



7 2 Food. 

of the climate. Englishmen have been performing a great 
physiological experiment for many years in every quarter of the 
globe in their extensive colonial dependencies. Carrying their 
national customs wherever they have intruded themselves, they 
have dressed, eaten, slept, and generally lived as they were accus- 
tomed in their own foggy island, with results that are now matters 
of scientific history. The red-coated, leather neck-cased, over- 
laden soldier is not 'so often seen marching under a 4 mid-day 
Indian sun; but despite all lessons, the wealthy Englishman, male 
and female, dines at seven off as many courses, drinks beer and 
brandy and soda, and goes home with "liver." The Japan 
Weekly Mail, of Yokohama, for August 12, 187 1, refers to a 
recent instance of culpable violation of sanitary laws by military 
authorities, for which the medical officers were in no way respon- 
sible, in the following terms: 

The old story again ! The weary old story of life sacrificed, but sacrificed 
for nothing — to appease no gods ; to propitiate no demon; to gain no laurels; 
to chastise no enemy; to procure no benefit; to afford no example; to inspire 
no devotion. Any moderately sensible judge of human affairs might have 
dreaded some such a catastrophe as has overtaken the Tenth Regiment and 
the newly-landed battalion of marines, which has arrived to relieve it. The 
regiment is moved in marching order in the heavy clothes which a tropical 
clhrfate converts into shirts of Nessus, with knapsacks, arms, and full para- 
phernalia. They may have been moved on empty stomachs, but what with 
parade, the march to the quay, and the time required for getting on board, 
they are for three hours exposed to the sun before they get food or arrive under 
the shelter of an awning. Meanwhile the plague has begun. The full-blooded 
men are smitten with heat-apoplexy, and the wonder is that more do not suc- 
cumb to the enemy. Three good men fell victims to that march — men who 
had been long in the regiment, and who might have lived to feel the pride of 
belonging to it. On the same day the marines, who have replaced them, come 
under the same fatal influences. Three were struck down. One is dead, 
others are in a dangerous state, and their recovery doubtful. Now it is clear 
that coddling soldiers is absurd, but you cannot inure men to a hot sun by 
exposing them to its deadly rays. You may gradually acclimatize them, and 
after all this you must handle them in the sun as in the presence of an enemy 
whom you may, with certain precautions, defy, but whom you cannot conquer. 
You must avoid him to the uttermost. In war it may be necessary to face 
him ; in peace it can hardly be so. The whole question is one of manage- 



Food. 4 73 

merit and administration. The regiment was incontestably in good order* 
* but why was it moved in August, with the thermometer at ninety, and the 
ominous typhoon-fly hovering about? 

It is a physiological impossibility for the sailor at Singapore, Bata- 
via, Hong-Kong, or Maranham to eat the same kind and quantity 
of food as at Kittery or Boston, where he shipped, and remain 
healthy and efficient. Messes in the tropics should, therefore, be 
allowed, advised, and encouraged to commute parts of the ration 
of meat for vegetables, especially rice, at sea, and for fruits and fresh 
vegetables when in port. Most messes stop one or more entire ra- 
tions and draw their value in money, either to pay their several 
cooks, which should be prevented by not allowing " steady " cooks, 
or to create a fund for the purchase of potatoes, turnips, onions, or 
other vegetables as sea-stores, which should be encouraged, and 
conveniences afforded by the authorities of the ship for their 
storage in the boats, under the boom-cover, or elsewhere on the 
spar-deck. They enter into the composition of the morning 
"scouse," which is the favorite dish of the sailor, and they are 
better antiscorbutics than anything in the dispensary. When one 
has been a month at sea a roasted "spud' ? (potato) is relished 
with an avidity that only a man starved of his natural aliment can 
experience, and a plentiful supply of this vegetable will render 
unnecessary any large provision of lime or lemon-juice, or any 
other medicinal antidote to scurvy. It is commonly but errone- 
ously believed that this disease has disappeared from the Navy. 
Medical Inspector Wilson, in his Naval Hygiene, relates two 
instances, during his experience, of the development of the scor- 
butic tendency on shipboard, the first occurring on the frigate 
Savannah, on her return from California during the Mexican war, 
and the second on board one of the vessels of the Japan expedi- 
tion during her passage from New York to the Straits of Sunda. 
I have also had to treat the disease, the first time while attached 
to the sloop-of-war Levant, which, as in Dr. Wilson's second 
instance, was making a passage from New York to China via the 
Straits of Sunda, and again on board the Idaho in 1868, while e?i 



74 • Food. 

route for Japan by way of the Ombay passage. Short stoppages 
were made in both cases at Rio de Janeiro and at Cape Town, 
but the crews were not allowed liberty on shore, and conse- 
quently did not experience that indescribable but marked benefit 
which undoubtedly results from simple contact with the earth, the 
deprivation of which may be ranked with the want of fresh veg- 
etable food as one of the efficient causes of the disease. The 
passage of the Levant was stormy, the men were exposed to con- 
tinued rains and cold, their labor was arduous, and almost every 
article of the ration was badly spoiled. After a delay of only 
two days at Anjer, the ship resumed her course to Hong-Kong, 
where she arrived on the one hundred and eighty-third day from 
New York, a passage greatly exceeded by the Idaho, which did 
not anchor at Nagasaki until the two hundredth day. In neither 
of these cases did the disease manifest itself by those terrible 
symptoms formerly supposed to be essentially diagnostic. There 
were few individuals who sought to be excused from duty, but 
the general condition of the whole crew was below par; they 
performed their duties listlessly and slowly, and were cursed for 
being morose and lazy; they lost strength and appetite; their 
bodies were covered with mottled discolorations; their gums were 
tender and bled easily, causing those who chewed to attribute it 
to the tobacco, for which they lost*taste; scratches, wounds, and 
bruises healed slowly or not at all; and men, often of the finest 
normal physique, succumbed readily to trifling causes of disease. 
Large numbers were subsequently invalided, Avhose disabilities 
really began at this time, and the actual money loss to the Gov- 
ernment was far greater than would have been the expense caused 
by a few days' longer sojourn in port. Sporadic cases of scurvy 
appeared the current month, (November, 1871,) onboard of sev- 
eral of the Russian escort squadron during their wet and stormy 
passage from Madeira to New York, though it was not protracted 
much beyond a month. A further delay at sea would have cer- 
tainly been followed by serious consequences. 

In foreign ports, bumboats attend all vessels whose crews are 



Food, 7 5 

permitted to draw any portion of their pay. A small allowance 
of money, conditional upon good behavior, should always be 
made for this purpose, since the men have no other way of obtain- 
ing the fruits of the countries they may visit, and which in tropical 
climates ought to enter largely into 'their . diet. Excessive indul- 
gence, however, particularly on first joining a station, must be 
carefully guarded against. In some bumboats, which should 
always be inspected by the medical officer that no unripe fruit 
nor other improper articles may be offered for sale, boiled eggs, 
broiled chickens, fried fish, steaks, etc., are prepared, which the 
sailor, cloyed with the unvarying boil of the coppers, relishes 
exceedingly, and which it is highly proper he should be permitted 
to enjoy. A watchful and comprehensive hygiene neglects no 
occasion of catering to the native instincts of the body, in viola- 
tion of which the seaman lives, and of recalling the customs of 
civilized life, from which he is unnaturally severed. 

Besides vegetables, eggs, properly packed, might be allowed to 
be purchased by the several messes as sea-stores. They can 
easily be fried before the galley is given up to the officers' cooks, 
and they make a palatable morning meal. The practice of carry- 
ing live-stock to sea is of doubtful propriety. It encumbers the 
decks, diminishes the air-space, impoverishes the atmosphere, 
creates filth, and becomes diseased, while it benefits a very small 
proportion of the persons on board. Fowls are more easily kept 
clean and healthy than other live food, but their flesh is not supe- 
rior in flavor or nutrient properties, nor better relished even by 
the sick, than that properly canned. This is especially true of the 
poor emaciated sheep and calves, which are sometimes killed for 
food after six or eight weeks' fright and torture on board a rolling 
ship. An exception may be made in the case of the large green 
turtle, which, whenever obtainable, should be taken to sea to be 
made into soup for the whole ship's company. 

It seems to escape officers of the Navy that the cooking of the 
sailor's food has anything to do with its nutritive value or palat- 
ability. The ship's cook is appointed without any special ques- 



7 6 Food. 

tioning as % to his ability to perform his duties, which, however, are 
of the simplest character. Everything given the sailor is boiled 
in the coppers, except in port, when some of the mess-cooks, by 
arrangement with the cabin or ward -room cooks, succeed in get- 
ting a piece of meat or a fowl roasted. The craving of the sailor 
for change is shown by the popularity of the scouses, which some 
commanding officers are thoughtful enough to encourage by 
allowing the range an extra supply of wood. Our galleys are not 
very commendable exhibitions of American inventive talent. It 
is certainly not impossible to contrive an apparatus possessing 
facilities for roasting meat and baking bread. In this matter, as 
in every other within the province of hygiene, the French are far 
in advance of all other nations. The "cuisine distillatoire" of 
Peyer and Rocher combines an oven for baking with an appa- 
ratus for distilling fresh water from salt, the coppers being at the 
same time heated by the steam, which is in process of condensa- 
tion into fresh water. Freshly-baked bread, when properly made, 
ought to be substituted for biscuit whenever possible. 

It is the duty of the officer of the deck to inspect the dinner 
prior to the serving out at seven bells in the forenoon watch, 
As now conducted this inspection is a mere form. The ship's 
cook brings a mess-pan to the mast containing the choicest piece 
of meat from the coppers, which the officer of the watch inspects 
by cutting off a slice or two as a lunch. This duty should be 
performed by some other officer, preferably one of the medical 
corps, and the inspection should extend to all the messes and to 
all the food at every meal. The fresh soups are sometimes so 
badly made, the vegetables not being half cooked nor the meat 
properly boiled, that it is common for sailors to attribute to them 
all their digestive irregularities in port; yet some cooks are so 
expert in making these soups that officers find them very palata- 
ble as their own noonday meal. At sea the same complaint is 
general with regard to bean-soup. Sometimes this is due to the 
inferior quality of the beans, occasionally to the hardness of the 
water, but most frequently to the neglect to soak them properly 



Food. 7 7 

(a whole day being sometimes necessary) in cold water and to 
boil them sufficiently long. Cooks often have the wafer in the 
coppers boiling before they add the meat for the soup, ignorant 
of the fact that the flavor and nutritious qualities of the latter 
depend upon the, extraction of the soluble p rinciples of the meat, 
which only takes place when it is put in cold water and that 
slowly heated. On " duff " days, it is very proper to boil the 
water before the beef is added, since it is thereby prevented from 
yielding all its nutrient qualities to the water and is consequently 
more tender, juicy, and palatable. The " harness-cask," in 
which the meat is thrown after it has been issued by the pay- 
master's subordinates, and where it remains until ready to go into 
the coppers, is often imperfectly cleansed and allowed to become 
dirty from the accumulation of stale brine. It should be care- , 
fully and thoroughly washed after every using, and the master-at- 
arms should be required to inspect it daily with the coppers and 
all the cooking-utensils at the galley and the mess-things of the 
berth-deck cooks. 

The tea and coffee especially require examination into the 
method of their preparation. Frequently they are such abomin- 
able mixtures that even the men refuse them, while there is no 
part of their ration of which they are more fond, none which is 
of greater importance to their well-being, nor any which is so 
easily prepared. Tea-water should be issued to the mess-cooks 
boiling, not more than ten minutes before the hour for the meal, 
and the mess-kettle should be kept tightly covered until the bev- 
erage is served out. Properly, coffee should be made by the ship's 
cook at the galley, and only issued a few minutes before break- 
fast is piped. As nutritive properties are of more importance to 
the sailor than delicacy of flavor and aroma, which he probably 
would not appreciate, it would be well to preserve a portion of 
the tea-leaves and coffee-grounds from each meal for addition to 
the ration of the following. 

The usefulness of tea, coffee, and alcohol in the form of wine, 
beer, or whisky, as food-stimuli or accessory food, has been satis- 



78 Food. 

factorily established by Anstie, Lankester, and others. An old 
writer, \fhose wisdom has never been questioned, epitomizes in 
Ecclesiasticus, chap, xxxix, v. 26, with a scientific precision to 
which the learning of nearly thirty centuries has but little to 
add: " The principal things for the whole use of man's life are 
water, fire, iron, and salt, flour of wheat, honey, milk, and the 
blood of the grape, and oil and clothing;" adding significantly in 
v. 27, "Alh these things are for good to the godly; so to the sin- 
ners they are turned into evil." The frightful consequences of 
intemperate indulgence in alcoholic liquors have resulted in the 
abolition of the spirit portion of the ration. If the substitution 
of a pint of beer or half a pint of wine- for the gill of spirits, 
which the Department used to authorize, could have been 
effected, there is no doubt of the propriety and benefit of its 
issue. The objectionable feature of the old service of grog was 
that it was drank undiluted and upon an empty stomach. The 
moral argument that it engendered and fostered a fondness for 
intoxicating liquors applied only to boys and a few landsmen, 
most sailors, firemen, and marines having already acquired the 
taste and habit before entering the service. It is doubtful whether 
even three years of enforced total abstinence could destroy the 
appetite in the confirmed inebriate. In such cases the land-shark 
and prostitute can nullify in half an hour the resolutions of years. 
There are few medical officers in the Navy whose experience 
cannot furnish instances of officers of rank and education who 
have repeatedly violated the most solemn pledges and oaths to 
abstain from rum-drinking. Liberty on shore is so frequent, and the 
license allowed drunkenness on such occasions, through the 
neglect to punish its habitual occurrence, so general, that the 
mere abolition of the grog ration has, probably, accomplished 
little toward the checking of intemperance on board ship. Even 
under the old system, the opportunity to commute the grog for 
money to be spent in the bumboat or on shore was extensively 
embraced. On board a sloop-of-war having a complement of 
one hundred and sixty men, I have known only forty to drink 



Food. 79 

their grog. Nevertheless, many excellent seamen have, undoubt- 
edly, been deterred from shipping in the Navy, in consequence of 
the commutation of the grog, and I am well satisfied that the ma- 
jority of such men were not injured by the regular consumption 
of the moderate quantity of spirits they received. Fortunately, 
tea, coffee, and tobacco, to a large extent, accomplish the same 
results as alcohol. Under their use the sailor better endures 
fatigue and the vicissitudes of climate, is more cheerful in 
mind, is better nourished, and in tropical regions experiences 
less desire to eat an excess of meat. Gasparin long ago called 
attention to the fact that the Belgian miners performed their 
arduous toil and maintained their robustness and health with a 
diet notoriously scant, in consequence of the daily use of coffee ; 
and Anstie has adduced numerous instances "where the support 
of the organism, in the absence of ordinary food, by stimulants, 
(that is, agents which, by their direct action, tend to rectify some 
deficient or too redundant material action or tendency,) is one' of 
the most remarkable phenomena which can be offered to the 
attention of the physiologist." Von Tschudi relates that an 
Indian, sixty-two years of age, worked for him (at excavation) 
for five days and nights consecutively, without any ordinary food 
at all, and with a very short allowance of sleep, and yet, at the 
end of that time, was fresh enough to undergo a long journey, 
simply because he was supported by the coca, which he chewed 
from time to time. He declares that the moderate eaters of coca 
are long-lived men, and that they perform extremely hard labor, 
upon a very little food, as miners, soldiers, etc., and he mentions 
the fact that the custom of coca-chewing is of immemorial an- 
tiquity in Peru; and Anstie adds: "Next, perhaps, to coca, in its 
1 power of replacing ordinary food, we must reckon tobacco, and 
next to tobacco in efficacy as a supplementary food, and far sur- 
passing it in its effectiveness under certain circumstances, is 
alcohol." I do not desire to advocate the reissue of a daily 
ration of grog. Provision, however, should be made for its 
proper use in emergencies, as when the crew are exposed to a 



80 Food. 

long continuance of bad weather, and especially when the rolling 
of the vessel prevents the lighting of the galley-fire and the 
preparation of coffee or tea, when they have been more than thirty 
days at sea and begin to manifest the consequent ill-effects of the 
salt ration, or when they are subjected to intense mental or 
physical effort, as in time of shipwreck, fire, or action. There is 
no doubt that under such circumstances tobacco-chewers and 
smokers find a mental and physical sustenance for which other 
men instinctively and painfully crave ; and we need not hesitate 
to refuse to join the pseudo-moral crusade which would deprive 
the sailor of the solace and support of his pipe and quid, when 
so learned a therapeutist as Pereira declares, " I am not acquainted 
with any well-ascertained ill-effects resulting from the habitua^ 
practice of smoking." A similar observation is made by Dr. 
Christison; and. Hammond, whose carefully conducted experi- 
ments upon himself have conclusively established the physiolog- 
ical effects of these agents, states, " I have no hesitation in ex- 
pressing my opinion that, in the great majority of cases, the mod- 
erate use of alcohol and tobacco is calculated to exert a benefi- 
cial effect upon the organism. This use, like that of every other 
good thing which we have, must be guided by wisdom. To 
transgress the laws of our being in the employment of these sub- 
stances leads just as surely to punishment as the violation of any 
other sanitary or physiological law. Like everything else capa- 
ble of producing great good, alcohol can also cause great harm. 
Our object should be to secure the one and provide against the 
other. I am decidedly of the opinion that tobacco is beneficial 
to those who, like soldiers, have a great deal of mental and bod- 
ily fatigue to undergo. But these remarks apply only to the mod- 
erate use. When employed to excess, there is no doubt that it 
predisposes to neuralgia, vertigo, indigestion, and other affections 
of the nervous, circulatory, and digestive organs." Dr. Gray, 
writing on the medical aspect of the tobacco question, states that 
" tobacco should be used as supplementary to food, not as a sub- 
stitute for it. The season, therefore, for healthy smoking is after 



Food. 8 1 

a meal. Against moderate smoking, by a healthy person who 
enjoys it, not a single argument of any weight has yet been ad- 
vanced." For those who are debarred from using tobacco and 
alcohol, an extra issue of coffee on turning out, and occasionally 
during the night watches, will supply the demand of the system 
when it is improperly or insufficiently nourished. 

Though comparatively little fault can be found with the com- 
ponent parts of the ration, the same is not true of the arrange- 
ment of meals. The usual hour for breakfast is 8 o'clock; for 
dinner, at noon; and for supper, 4 o'clock. By this system men 
eat three times within eight hours, and fast all the rest of the day. 
The objections to it are evident. Economy of fuel is no excuse 
for a practice that is so contrary to the simplest teachings of hy- 
giene and common sense. It is far more easy to provide a larger 
quantity of wood and coal before setting out than to teach a man's 
stomach to regulate its functions according to the arbitrary dic- 
tum of his "superior officer." After the supper, the sailor gets 
nothing to eat for sixteen hours, although his most arduous duties 
frequently occur within that period, and although the craving for 
food is manifest even in officers, who eat their last meal so much 
later, and yet universally require the caterers of their messes to 
provide them a lunch before going on deck during the night and 
morning watches. At sea the labors of the night are probably 
more frequently laborious than those of the day; while in port 
the vessel may have been brought to anchor or gotten under way, 
and in the morning hammocks have to be scrubbed, clothes 
washed, and decks " holy-stoned; " and all this with an empty 
stomach. In hot climates, both men and officers always feel list- 
less and indisposed for exertion in the morning, when a slight 
repast would give them the energy to perform their duties prop- 
erly. Hammond advises that " soldiers should always be fed 
before they are sent to drills, parades, or other labor," and Mac- 
leod declares that he has little doubt that, if the precaution had 
been taken to supply the troops in the Crimea every morning with 
hot coffee, much of their mortality might have been avoided. I 
6 N H 



82 Food. 

therefore recommend that every man may be served a cup of cof- 
fee and piece of bread immediately after turning out, and that 
breakfast be eaten at 7 o'clock, dinner at noon, and supper at 6 
o'clock, the dinner hour of many cabin and ward-room messes. 
In port all hands turn out at daylight, and should then have 
their bread and hot coffee ; at sea, the morning watch comes on 
dock at 4 o'clock, and should be allowed coffee as soon as it can 
be made. The other watch is called with " all hands " at 7 
o'clock, the hour I propose for breakfast. To give them time to 
lash and stow their hammocks, wash, and dress before breakfast, 
they should be called at ten or fifteen minutes before 7, in which 
quarter of an hour they will be able to do all they are required. 
The range should be given up to the berth-deck cooks to make . 
scouses until fifteen minutes before 7 o'clock, which is early 
enough for the officers' cooks to begin their breakfast. In bad 
weather, unless the ship rolls too heavily for safety* or when the 
work is very arduous, fire should be kept in the galley and hot 
coffee served out to the middle and morning watches. It is get- 
ting to be a custom to light the galley-fire in the morningwatch, 
to make the officer of the deck his cup of coffee, when the ship's 
and officers' cooks take advantage of the opportunity to prepare 
coffee, which they retail to such men as are able or willing to 
pay their charges; but this is done surreptitiously, at an expense 
to the men which they cannot alvyays afford, and in the cases of 
the officers' cooks at the cost of the officers, whose private stores 
supply the materials used. To prevent this fraud and to enable 
every one of the crew to be benefited by the procedure, the Gov- 
ernment should make it a regular daily issue; or, if objection is 
urged to the increased cost of the ration, such a charge should 
be determined upon by the paymaster as will purchase the coffee 
required. I have known instances of ships' cooks who have 
amassed several thousand dollars during a cruise, by irregular 
sales, principally of coffee. 

An improvement should be made in the furniture of the messes. 
Everything is repulsive about the sailor's mess-cloth, where each 



Food. 83 

man is using his fingers and the jack-knife with which he may- 
have been scraping masts or cleaning tar-buckets. A few 
cheap, strong knives and forks, block-tin plates, cups, etc., might 
be included among the paymaster's small stores. The British 
sailor receives his mess-utensils from the government gratis. In 
large ships, tables and camp-stools are provided for the men, and 
might appropriately be made a part of the outfit of every vessel, 
care being taken to stow them, when not in use, so as not to en- 
croach on the air-space of the berth-deck. 

The medical officers should frequently visit the messes and 
inquire into everything relating to their subsistence. This duty- 
is especially enjoined upon the surgeon by paragraph 534 of the 
Regulations for the Government of the United States Navy for 
1870, and which, so far as the medical officer is concerned in his 
character of physician, is the most important in the book. Hence 
I quote it, and urge upon the young assistant surgeon the neces- 
sity of pondering seriously upon the grave responsibilities it de- 
volves upon him: 

He (the surgeon) shall inspect the provisions for the crew, and report to 
the commanding officer when he may discover any that are unsound. He 
will also cause the purity of the- water to be tested before it is received into 
the tanks, and he will make known to the commanding officer any want of 
care or cleanliness in the preparation of food for the crew, or any instance of 
personal neglect with regard to it, of which he may be cognizant. He will 
also make known to the commanding officer everything which may come to 
his knowledge as conducive to, or as militating'against, the general health and 
comfort of the ship's company. 

Although these sanitary functions are manifestly among the 
legitimate duties of the physician, the Navy Department, in these 
instructions, very properly directs particular attention to them, 
and every medical officer should be held strictly accountable for 
the consequences of any violation of a proper hygiene w r hich he 
may have neglected to investigate and report. 



POTABLE WATER. 



Physiologists estimate that the daily loss of fluid by cutaneous 
and pulmonary exhalation is from one and three-quarters to five 
pounds ; that of the thirty or forty ounces of urine excreted only 
two to seven per cent, are solid; and that seventy-five per cent, of 
the faecal discharge of the twenty-four hours, which averages 
from four to six ounces, is water — a total loss of fluid every day 
of from three and a half to seven and a half pounds. The cus- 
tomary allowance of water on ship-board is one gallon a day for 
each person, of which half is given to the ship's cook for the 
coppers, and the balance put into the scuttle-butt for drinking. 
This allowance is sufficient under ordinary circumstances, but 
during hot weather the water is all drank up in the forenoon, and 
the landsmen and boys, who have been less employed than the 
rest of the crew, usually drink a disproportionate share. While, 
therefore, the issue of water should never be less than a gallon a 
day in temperate latitudes, this amount should be largely increased 
whenever the crew are exposed to unusual fatigue or to prolonged 
heat. The listless, careless way in wmich the men go through 
their exercises in tropical ^climates, is as much due to the stint of 
water as to the direct depressing effect of heat. According to 
Parkes, "the supply of water becomes a matter of the most 
urgent necessity when men are undergoing great muscular efforts, 
as it is absolutely impossible that these efforts can be continued 
without it. If we reflect on the immense loss of water by the 
skin and lungs wmich attends any great physical exertion, w r e 
shall see that to make up for this loss is imperative; and it is 
very important that this loss should be made up continually by 
small quantities of water being constantly taken, and not by any 
large amount at any one time." 



Potable Water. • 85 



An article which enters so intimately into the composition of 
the animal economy, which permeates every tissue, and forms 
the basis of the various circulating media, which has so much to 
do with the reparation of the body and the normal performance 
of its functions, should be as free as possible from nocuous quali- 
ties. The terrible mortality of the old-time vessels was due as 
much to the excess of saline and the presence of putrescent mat- 
ters in their water as to the neglect of any other of the measures 
which hygiene demonstrates to be indispensable to health. To 
this effect Pereira quotes a report of the British secretary of state 
for the home department : " The beneficial effects derived from 
care as to the qualities of water is now proved in the navy, where 
fatal dysentery formerly prevailed to an immense extent in con- 
sequence of the impure and putrid state of the supplies." Though 
a certain amount of saline constituents is essential to good pota- 
ble water, a very slight excess of any one salt will occasion grave 
disturbance of health. Carpenter relates an instance where seri- 
ous detriment to the health of a neighborhood was occasioned by 
using the water of a well containing only five grains of saline 
matters to the pint. According to Christison one two-thousandth 
of its weight of saline ingredients ( thirty-five grains in the impe- 
rial gallon) renders water unfit for domestic purposes. French 
writers have incontestably shown that the intestinal disorders, 
which were common among the inmates of certain hospitals and 
prisons of Paris, were directly traceable to the use of well-waters 
containing calcium and magnesium sulphates. Parkes refers to 
the prevalence of diarrhoea on the Cape frontier stations, under 
his own observations, from the use of brackish water ; the dele- 
terious effects of our western river-waters on non-residents are 
widely known; and there is no doubt that malignant cholera is 
principally, if not exclusively, as Dr. Snow taught, transmitted 
through the medium of drinking-water. 

So much, then, depending on the character of the water, it 
should never be received on board ship for drinking and culinary 
purposes until it has been submitted to the medical officers, faith- 



86 i Potable Water. 



fully and carefully examined by them, and pronounced potable. 
Notwithstanding the very serious interests involved, this subject 
has not received a tittle of the attention it deserves. Most med- 
ical officers, when notified that water is about to be taken on 
board, direct their apothecaries to add a piece of crystalized 
nitrate of silver to a tumblerful of the water, and if the precipitate 
produced is not a positive cloud filling the tumbler, and the taste 
not markedly brackish, consent to pass it. Frequently, this is 
the extent of the chemical means they have at hand, but the 
careless manner in which even this test is applied renders it prac- 
tically useless. The taste of w r ater, on which so much reliance 
is ordinarily placed, is a very unsafe guide, since, according to 
Parkes, " organic matter, when dissolved, is often quite tasteless ; 
55 grains of carbonate of soda and 70 of chloride of sodium per 
gallon are imperceptible; 10 grains of carbonate of lime give no 
taste; 25 grains of sulphate of lime very little; " yet, a potable 
water, according to the same authority, should never contain 
more than 20 grains of carbonate nor 10 of chloride of sodium, 
16 of carbonate nor 3 of sulphate of lime, nor 3 of the carbonate 
and sulphate of magnesia. 

Water, to be potable, does not require to be chemically pure. 
The stomach instinctively loathes water freshly distilled, rain- 
water recently fallen, and the water formed by the melting of 
ice and snow. The eminent hygienist Guerard describes good 
potable water as. " limpid, temperate in winter, cool in summer, 
inodorous, of an agreeable taste. It should dissolve soap with- 
out forming clots; be fit for cooking dried beans; hold in solution 
a proper quantity of air, carbonic acid gas, and mineral substances; 
these last not exceeding 0.5 gramme to the litre, (35 grains per 
gallon.) Finally, it should be free from organic matters." 

The river- waters, from which our principal naval stations are 
supplied, contain a far less proportion of saline constituents than 
this. According to Professor Barker, "the purest water supplied 
to any city in this country is that from Lake Cochituate, which 



Potable Water. 87 



supplies Boston, which contains but 3. 11 grains (solid matter) in 
one gallon. The Schuylkill water (Philadelphia) contains 3.50 
grains; Ridgewood, (Brooklyn,) 3.92 ; the Croton, (New York,) 
4.78; Lake Michigan, (Chicago,) 6.68; the water which supplier- 
Albany, 10.78." European rivers are seldom so pure. The 
Loire, Garonne, and Danube average about 10 grains; the Rhine 
12; the Rhone 13; the Seine, Scheldt, and Thames range from 
16 to ^o. Fonssagrives restricts the proportion of salts which a 
potable water should contain to from 0.10 to 0.20 gramme per 
litre, (7 to 14 grains per gallon:) "beyond this the water is hard, 
indigestible, and unfit for cooking vegetables." Christison con- 
siders a water to be hard which contains one four-thousandth 
part, or ij}4 grains of saline matter to the gallon, and says that 
that which contains not more than 14 grains will lather with 
soap, and may therefore be used for washing. The absolute 
amount of saline substances is, however, of less practical im- 
portance than the quantity of each particular salt, since a small 
amount of calcium sulphate will render a water harder than twice 
or thrice as much of alkaline carbonates, and if organic matters 
are also present, the reduction of the sulphate will render the 
water offensive from the disengagement of hydrogen sulphide. 

The saline ingredients of ordinary river- water are principally 
the chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, and phosphates of sodium 
and calcium, the chloride, bromide, carbonate, and sulphate of 
magnesium, the chloride and sulphate of potassium, a little 
silica, oxide of iron, and occasionally other metallic salts. Of 
these, sodium chloride and calcium carbonate and sulphate form 
the largest proportion. 

The medical officer of a man-of-war has no need to attempt a 
complete analysis of water, for which, indeed, he will have neither 
time, place, nor appliances, in conducting his examination as to 
its fitness for drinking and culinary purposes, but he should never 
give his consent to the reception on board ship of any water 
which does not possess the physical properties enumerated by 
Guerard, which curdles a standard solution of soap, which decol- 



Potable Water. 



orizes a standard dilute solution of potassium permanganate, and 
which gives more than a faint white precipitate, insoluble in nitric 
acid, with silver nitrate, barium chloride, and ammonium oxalate. 
Most common waters have an alkaline reaction from calcium 
carbonate, held in solution by carbon di-oxide, but this gas is 
expelled by ebullition, the carbonate is precipitated, and forms the 
ordinary lining crust of tea-kettles. "Six grains per gallon of a 
lime-salt give a turbidity with oxalate of ammonia; sixteen grains 
a considerable precipitate; thirty grains a very large precipitate." 
"As only two grains per gallon of carbonate of lime can remain 
in solution after boiling, a large precipitate on the subsequent 
addition of another portion of the oxalate -will show that the 
sulphate or chloride of lime is present." "Four grains per gallon 
of chloride of sodium give a turbidity with an acidulated solution 
of nitrate of silver; ten grains a slight precipitate; twenty grains 
a considerable precipitate." Sulphates to the amount of one or 
even one and a half grains per gallon give no precipitate with 
chloride of barium; at first, or on standing, three grains give a 
haze, and after a time a slight precipitate; above this amount the 
precipitate is pretty well marked." — (Parkes.) 

Fortunately, there is now very little difficulty in obtaining a 
sufficient supply of excellent potable water at the principal resorts 
of our naval vessels, to obviate the necessity of watering ship with 
impure water — a necessity which, in the case of steamers, of 
course, never can exist. In some tropical sea-ports, as Anjer, 
where the w r ater is necessarily largely impregnated with vegetable 
matter, filtered water may be obtained at a small charge, and I 
was once witness of the lamentable consequences of a command- 
ing officer's refusal, through a mistaken spirit of economy, to incur 
this expense. Parkes quotes as a curious fact from Davis, in ref- 
erence to the West Indies, that ships' crews, when ordered to 
Tortola, were "invariably seized with fluxes, which were caused 
by the water. But the inhabitants, who used tank (rain) water, 
were free; and so well known was this, that when any resident at 
Tortola was invited to dinner on board a man-of-war, it was no 
unusual thing for him to carry his drinking-water with him." 



Potable Water. 89 



Should it become necessary to obtain water from unknown 
places, the medical officer should always examine its source, 
means of transit, preservation, etc. It is manifestly improper to 
fill up from stagnant pools, shaded and sluggish streams, marshes, 
mineral springs, etc., nor should any springs or wells ever be com- 
pletely exhausted. During the late war I have known whole tanks 
rendered unfit for drinking by the final addition of a cask obtained 
by the exhaustion of a spring. Rain-water, though largely aera- 
ted, is insipid from deficiency of salts, while melted ice and snow 
lack both the necessary gaseous and mineral ingredients, and re- 
quire the same treatment as distilled water to be potable. Cap- 
tain Cook's attempt to water ship from an iceberg resulted dis- 
astrously to the health of his crew. Snow itself does not assuage 
thirst, and absorbs ammonia in such quantities that its ingestion 
is often attended with dangerous and, in several cases of children, 
fatal consequences. 

Boat expeditions or exploring parties on land may sometimes 
be compelled to use only such water as they can get, when the 
preferable mode of purifying it will be by filtration through sand 
and charcoal. Water containing principally organic matters in 
solution is rapidly purified by means of potassium permanganate. 
Calcareous waters, containing the carbonate, may be improved 
by the addition of pure lime-water, which combines with the 
solvent, (CO2,) and precipitates it as carbonate, along with the 
rest of that salt which it had held in solution. Water containing 
calcium sulphate in excess is more objectionable than that hold- 
ing an excess of carbonate, for though the addition of bicarbon- 
ate of sodium will likewise throw down the lime carbonate, the 
sodium sulphate left in solution gives the water a disagreeable 
taste and unpleasant laxative qualities. The objection to the 
popular French plan of purifying turbid water, entitled "alunage 
de Vean" which simply consisted in the addition of a small 
quantity of alum, was that, while clarifying the water, it merely 
converted the lime carbonate into sulphate, which remained in 
solution, and rendered the water worse than before. Youatt says 



90 Potable Water. 



that the horse, "through instinct or experience, will leave the 
most transparent and pure (?) water of the well for a river, although 
the water may be turbid, and even for the muddiest pool." 

A common source of impurity in water brought on board ship 
is the leakage of the water-boat, casks, or tanks, in which it is 
conveyed from on shore. These are frequently old, are seldom or 
imperfectly cleansed, not properly calked and lined, or are open 
to salt spray or to the swashing of salt-water into the pump-well. 
A pint of sea-water contains from three hundred and six to three 
hundred and fifteen grains of saline substances, while less than 
two grains in that quantity are the most that can be drank any 
length of time with entire impunity ; consequently a single gallon 
of sea-water will render unfit for drinking more than a hundred 
of otherwise pure water. Hence a sample of water should be ex- 
amined out of every tank, and several, if it remains alongside ot 
the ship any length of time. Where the young medical officer is 
in doubt whether the water examined falls far enough below the 
standard to be rejected, let him always decide against and decline 
to approve it. 

The greater part of the water used on board steamers is distilled 
from the sea, and the attention of engineers and constructors has 
been directed to the production of an apparatus which shall ac- 
complish this in the most satisfactory manner. The disagreeable 
empyreumatic odor and flavor usually attending water from this 
source, its chemical purity and consequent insipidity, are the prin- 
cipal faults which have to be remedied. The first depending on 
defective process of distillation, has been gotten rid of as this has 
improved. Perroy's apparatus, as modified by Bourel-Ronciere, 
in use in the French naval service, is probably the best yet devised ; 
the steam generated by the boilers of the engine being condensed 
by the water of the sea surrounding the vessel, in the midst of a 
current of air, by which it is aerated, and deprived of empyreuma 
by filtration through granular animal charcoal. The filter con- 
sists of a tinned sheet-iron box, divided internally into four com- 
partments, separated by vertical partitions pierced with alternate 



Potable Water. 



9 1 



holes, so that the water produced traverses successively the entire 
mass of charcoal contained in the four compartments, and becomes 
immediately potable as it leaves the apparatus. The condenser 
is a simple tinned copper tube, placed on the outside of the keel, 
about a riietre below the water-line, secured firmly to the vessel, 
and covered up so as to prevent its injury by the grounding of 
the vessel, but not to hinder her steerage-way. After running a 
certain distance outside, it enters the ship's side and discharges 
the fresh water obtained by the condensation of the steam under 
the cooling influence of the sea-water. Cocks at the two extrem- 
ities regulate the admission of steam and the discharge of water, 
A minute analysis of the waters obtained on board La Circe, where 
Bourel-Ronciere performed his experiments with distillatory appa- 
ratus, was made at the naval medical school at Toulon, by M. 
Fontaine, premier pharmacien en chef, and demonstrated that at 
the first working of the apparatus they contained sodium chloride 
in sensible quantity, a few sulphates, and traces of organic matters ; 
but Bourel-Ronciere claims that as the apparatus is worked the 
water becomes purer, and the quantity of saline matters is much 
diminished, and, after leaving Perroy's filter, it is sufficiently 
aerated to be healthy and salubrious. " The problem of the dis- 
tillation of sea-water," adds A. Tardieu, from whom I have ob- 
tained these facts, " may thus be considered as practically settled. " 
Fonssagrives proposes to supply the deficiency of saline matter in 
distilled water by the addition to every hundred gallons of a mix- 
ture containing about half a drachm of sodium chloride, a scruple 
of sodium sulphate, six drachms of calcium carbonate, a drachm 
and a half of sodium carbonate, and two scruples of magnesium 
carbonate, the aggregate amount of salification amounting to 5.4 
grains per gallon. Besides the mechanical means for aerating 
the water, if the tank is only filled to the extent of two-thirds its 
capacity, the motion of the vessel will agitate it sufficiently to 
cause it to dissolve a larger proportion of the gaseous constituents 
of the atmosphere. A crystal of green ferrous sulphate will not 
produce the characteristic ocherish discoloration unless air is 
present. • 



9 2 



Potable Water. 



Not infrequently water, unobjectionable when brought off or 
distilled on board, is seriously impaired after it has been placed 
in the tanks. This is the case when the latter have been white- 
washed inside, a practice that cannot be too severely condemned. 
I sailed from Boston, in the autumn of 1858, on board the Dol- 
phin, of which the tanks had been treated in this way, and, with 
every other officer and man, 1 was tormented with burning thirst, 
dryness of mouth and fauces, nauseous tastse, epigastric heat, etc., 
until we arrived at Buenos Ayres. The tea, coffee, and soups 
were also spoiled. Still another cause of the deterioration of 
water on board ship is overlooked. It is a very general custom 
to fill the tanks as soon as they have been emptied, with sea- 
water, either to preserve the trim of the vessel or to prevent cap- 
sizing, though on board steamers provided with distilling appara- 
tus there can be no possible pretext for using salt-water for this 
purpose. With the greatest care it is difficult to remove the ef- 
fects of this procedure, arid the destruction of the brackishness of 
the water by the chemical action of the iron is inconsiderable ; 
but usually, the only cleansing attempted is to pump out the salt- 
water, wash the tanks with a few gallons of fresh, and then re- 
plenish them. The tanks of some small vessels will not admit a 
boy, and frequently the beams of the berth-deck partly cover the 
man-hole openings, so that it is not possible to reach but a small 
portion of their surface. The substitution of iron tanks for casks 
is one of the greatest improvements hygiene has effected in mod- 
ern naval establishments, and its satisfactory results should secure 
attention to other suggestions emanating from this department of 
the medical profession. Tanks, however, require considerable 
care. They should always be thoroughly cleansed when emptied, 
scraped, well rinsed with fresh, preferably distilled water, and 
waxed before they art refilled. Galvanizing the inside of the 
tanks is open to the objection that it will add another foreign 
substance to the water in the shape of a salt of zinc. The scuttle- 
butt ought also to be of iron * it should be cleansed and waxed 
every month, and provided with a filtering diaphragm of sand 



Potable Wate?\ 93 



and charcoal, which must be occasionally removed and renewed. 

1 have known vessels on which the scuttle-butt was not disturbed 
during the whole cruise. 

Instead of the ordinary mess-pot holding nearly a quart, such 
as is used for tea and coffee, which is filled and emptied at a 
draught, and oftenest by the landsmen, writers, boys, etc., who 
require it least, a small tin drinking-cup, of the capacity of a gill, 
should be attached by a chain to the faucet of the scuttle-butt, 
and allowed to be filled but once at each drinking. This quan- 
tity is as much as should be swallowed at any one time, and will 
enable the man to get from ten to fifteen full draughts a day. 
The sentry on post should be instructed to prevent any particular 
set of men from using an undue share. The whole daily allow- 
ance shoulo>not be pumped jnto the scuttle-butt atone time, but 
at intervals, during the day ; thus, if the entire daily amount is 
one hundred gallons, let fifty be introduced at 9 a. m., thirty at 

2 p. m., and the balance at 8 p. m. Thfc tea and coffee will sup- 
ply its place at intermediate times. The addition of oat-meal to 
water is customary with engineers and firemen, a smaller quan- 
tity thus more effectually relieving thirst. At general quarters, 
not only the scuttle-butt should be filled, but the mess-kettles of 
the berth-deck cooks, which should be convenient to be passed 
on deck by the powder division. Similar provision for an extra 
supply of water should be made whenever any other protracted 
or exhausting labor is undertaken. 



SLEEP 



The graphic descriptions by reporters of the filth of some of 
the unclean and degraded poor of our great cities would find a 
parallel on the berth-decks of many of our men-of-war at night. 
It is a place that few officers but those of the medical corps ever 
visit at that time; and the close bulkheads of the comparatively 
well-ventilated ward-room exclude the foul and stifling odors ot 
the adjoining apartment. It is impossible to remain many min- 
utes among the hammocks without* experiencing a sensation of 
suffocation and nausea; indeed it is only necessary to lean over 
the main-hatch, toward the close of the first watch, to recognize 
the heavy mawkish odor that arises and betokens the over- crowd- 
ing of human beings. That these beings are injuriously affected 
by what appeals so forcibly to our senses and excites disgust, 
does not admit of question. I have referred incidentally to this 
subject of overcrowding when speaking of ventilation, and have 
shown the evil of the system which fills vessels with more men 
than they can berth, even with hammocks swinging so closely 
together that the movement of one man disturbs all those 
among whom he is wedged. The berthing capacity of every 
vessel should be determined by a commission of officers, wholly 
or in part of the medical corps, and should be the guide to the 
regulation of the armament, rather than that a certain number 
of guns should be put on board and a certain allowance of 
human muscle, like that of tackle and breechings, be subordi- 
nate thereto. The ship carrying a small battery, manned by a 
hundred athletic, healthy men, will be far more efficient than one 
bristling with cannon and encumbered with twenty or thirty 
daily sick, and twice as many more enfeebled convalescents. 

At sea only one watch sleep below; but all the advantages 



Sleep. 95 

derived from the increased breathing-space thus aftbred are coun- 
terbalanced by a horribly disgusting and abominable practice 
which is enforced on board many— probably a majority of vessels 
— of compelling the watch that come from deck to turn into the 
hammocks of the men who relieve them. Perhaps an officer, 
who never visits the berth-deck at night, and whose own bunk is 
clean and dry, can complacently issue such an order and reply to 
any remonstrance made that "men must not expect to get all the 
comforts of life w T ith eighteen dollars a month ; " but the medical 
officer, who is ever mindful of the solemn responsibilities of his 
profession, will denounce this practice with every expression of 
abhorrence. Fancy the loathing with which a clean man must 
regard the compulsion to sleep in the bed of a fellow of unclean 
habits, diseased with venereal, affected with cutaneous eruptions 
or vermin, whose skin is naturally offensive, or whose blankets 
are always wet from incontinence of urine or spermatorrhoea, or 
the equal repugnance he must experience at having his own clean 
bedding soiled by such a beast. There is never the shadow of 
necessity to excuse this detestable custom. In pleasant weather 
each watch should be compelled to " lash and carry." The unoc- 
cupied hammocks should not be left below, except when they 
would get wet by being stowed in the nettings, and then they 
should be allowed to remain pn their appropriate hooks or be 
piled up in some convenient place. 

I have already insisted that the watch coming below should 
remove their wet clothes before turning in, and that if they have 
exhausted the three changes which a proper outfit would allow, 
that they should remove theif outer shirts and pantaloons, and 
hang them on their hammock-hooks. In this way the contents 
of the hammock may be kept dry and clean. No wet articles 
should ever be stowed either in the hammocks or hammock-net- 
tings. 

All bedding should be exposed in the rigging to the air and 
sun at least once a week, if the weather will permit. The blank- 
ets and mattress should be well shaken, and the latter should 



g6 Sleep. 

be repicked once or twice during the cruise. Hennen, writing 
on military hygiene, advises the daily exposure of soldiers' bed- 
ding to the sun. I have known vessels in which bedding had not 
been opened for this purpose for several months, where there was 
no care taken to prevent men turning in wet, and where the gon- 
orrhoea!, the syphilitic, the eczematous, those incontinent of urine, 
and those affected with diarrhoea, slept alternately with the clean 
in each other's bedding. Opportunities should be improved 01 
compelling the men to wash their blankets, one or both at a time, 
and their mattress-covers, in fresh water. These articles become 
quickly soiled with blue dye-stuff during the first weeks that new 
flannel is worn. Although we have often imitated or adhered to 
the customs of the British service with questionable profit, I can- 
not refrain from expressing a hope that our Government will 
adopt the course of the lords commissioners of the British admi- 
ralty, who, " being desirous that the seaman, on entering, as far 
as practicable, may be freed from the necessity of incurring debt, 
are pleased to direct that all men and boys, on first joining one 
of Her Majesty's ships, shall be supplied with a bed, blanket, and 
bed-cover free of charge." As they are the property of the Crown 
and have to be returned, paymasters are interested in having them 
kept in good order ; and the care taken to this end thus indi- 
rectly assists to a result which, with only hygiene recommending 
it, would never have been attained. 

The greasy black hammock-lashing is a relic of old-time cus- 
toms, which should go the way of others of its kind. The neat 
white " tie-tie," or stop, does not soil the hammock, lessens the 
task of cleaning, and does not bre&k the mattress. Hammocks 
are adapted for it with very little trouble, and the bedding may 
be more expeditiously tied up and taken on deck than when a 
lashing has to be adjusted. 

In pleasant weather the greater part of the watch on deck 
sleep on the spar-deck, wherever they can find places. Unless 
the decks are perfectly dry, this should be interdicted. Care 
should also be taken that the men never lie down wdiere they will 



Sleep. 97 

be exposed to dew or to currents of air through air-ports and 
scupper-holes. A large proportion of the aural diseases which 
appear on the medical returns of the service is occasioned in this 
way. 

The necessary interruptions of the sleep of the sailor affect his 
health, but many of the needless discomforts and sources of dis- 
ease may be abolished with great benefit to the service, as when 
" all hands " are called during the night in consequence of clum- 
sily executed maneuvers or to punish a few lazy and inefficient 
men. 

7 N H 



EXERCISE. 



, Among other " non -naturals " which require attention from the 
naval hygienist is want of exercise. The sailor's occupation fur- 
nishes occasion enough for physical development, but there is a 
numerous class of persons on board vessels of war, intrusted with 
special duties, who do not share the open-air labors of the mar- 
iner. These are the apothecaries, nurses, yeomen, schoolmasters, 
writers, masters-at-arms, ship's corporals, captains of the hold, 
permanent berth-deck cooks, officers' stewards, cooks, and ser- 
vants, musicians, printers, painters, tailors, etc. They are recog- 
nizable at the weekly muster on Sunday by their pallid counte- 
nances, faltering gait, and untidy, slovenly dress. They are un- 
clean and indolent as a class, are scantily provided with clothing, 
and form a large proportion of the sick. The dark and lonely 
corners where they abide are the favorite haunts of those guilty 
of those secret practices that are so rife on board some men-of- 
war. Many yeomen pass the entire day in the store-room, which 
sometimes is without a scuttle overhead, or even an auger-hole 
in the door, where they breathe a confined and stagnant atmos- 
phere, still further impoverished and heated by two or three 
constantly burning oil-lamps or candles. The captain of the 
hold whiles away his leisure hours in the main hold, where he 
keeps his ditty-box, and the regular cooks seldom quit the 
vicinity of the galley before night, when the fires are extinguished. 
The system of steady berth-deck cooks reduces eight, ten, or 
more of the crew, according to the number of messes, to this 
etiolated condition, and it ought, therefore, to be discounte- 
nanced. Every man, except the higher petty-officers, should be 
required to perform the duty of mess-cook or caterer (for the 
former term is a misnomer) in rotation, changes being made at 



Exercise. 



99 



least monthly, and while attending to this duty he should not be 
excused from the regular exercises of his division or station, an 
alternate performing his mess-work. All others whose special 
duties confine them below should be compelled to pass a certain 
portion of each day, during the hours of daylight, in the open 
air. They should either be attached as supernumeraries to the 
regular divisions, or be exercised together at the great guns, at 
small-arms, single-sticks, rowing, or going aloft. No conflict of 
departments need occur in this if officers of the various corps 
are actuated by proper feelings toward each other and toward 
the service. It is not presumed that the surgeon will be deprived 
of the services of the apothecary or nurses whenever these may 
be required ; nor that the paymaster will have to subordinate the 
business of his department to his writer's exercise ; nor that the 
captain of the hold will have to neglect his work to play at top- 
man or loader and sponger; nor that the cabin and ward-room 

dinners shall- become cold or go uncooked, and Mr. 's boy 

lay down his razor and leave the lathered chin unshaven when- 
ever small-arm men are called away. The special duties for 
which these individuals are respectively employed must be at- 
tended to in preference to everything else; but then the officer 
who directs or controls this special duty should not throw obsta- 
cles in the way of exercise, however distasteful it may be to the 
subordinate, by requiring untimely and unnecessary services, but, 
prompted by a desire to promote the general interests, should 
cheerfully co-operate to this end. 

The multiplicity of officers' messes crowds our naval vessels 
with a superfluous number of ineffective, worthless, and trouble- 
some individuals, who eminently deserve the designation "idlers.' 7 
A flag-ship may have a separate mess for the admiral or commo- 
dore, one for the commanding officer, (and I have heard another 
advocated for the fleet-captain,) one for the ward-room, (and for 
a while there were two of these,) one for the starboard and an- 
other for the port steerage, and one for the warrant-officers; each 
with its own steward, cook, and servants; each occupying the 



i oo Exercise. 



galley, which consequently becomes a theater of confusion and 
contention; each encroaching on the air-space of the ship by its 
independent store-rooms and pantries, and deteriorating its at- 
mosphere by its accumulation of destructible stores, often in 
widely apart localities. I have known a brig-of-war so small 
that officers and men elbowed each other on deck, on board 
which the show of class distinctions was still kept up by four offi- 
cers' messes. I am aware that the time has not yet arrived for 
expecting any reform in this matter, though more than one com- 
manding officer has agreed with me that there is no good reason 
why a general officers' mess, presided over by the captain, should 
not be established, as in the Army, where the colonel sits at the 
head of the regimental mess-table. The ship is the analogue of 
the regiment or battalion, and experience has demonstrated that 
where military officers dine en masse their demeanor is no less 
gentlemanly and dignified, and their polite and friendly inter- 
course no more subversive of discipline than in the Navy, where 
inferiority of position is unremittingly indicated by the relative 
coarseness of the table-cloth, the number of the viands, the im- 
pudence of the steward, and the behavior of the mess-mates. On 
the contrary, many arguments may be adduced in favor of the 
former practice. The expense of entertaining foreign officials is 
wholly defrayed from our own officers' personal means; and when 
this is on a large scale, falls chiefly upon those of the ward-room. 
Many of our commanders have dined with foreign regimental 
messes, in company with cornets as well as colonels, without 
abasement of their own dignity, and visiting admirals and gen- 
erals would doubtless feed with equal complacency in the pres- 
ence of midshipmen, masters, and assistant surgeons. The ob- 
jection of the inability of the junior officers to bear an equal share 
of such expenses could be overcome, first, by the Government pro- 
viding an outfit of table and kitchen furniture for every ship, and, 
secondly, by its assuming, as in other services, all extra expendi- 
tures certified by the commander to have been incurred in the 
legitimate entertainment of foreign officials and the necessary re- 



Exercise. i o i 

turn of civilities received from them : an outlay more than coun- 
terbalanced by the saving in wages, subsistence, and sick-care of 
the attendants no longer required. The monthly cost to each 
individual of maintaining a general officers' mess in superior 
style would be actually less than that now expended and wasted 
by the inexperienced caterers of many midshipmen's messes. 
Furthermore, the younger officers of the Navy would, from the 
commencement of their career, be beneficially influenced by 
the courteous and gentlemanly association and the exemplary 
conduct of their seniors. Most steerage-messes, and lately 
not only these, are often scenes of unbecoming turmoil and 
indecorum. The absence of restraint, which induces even the 
younger officers themselves to object to a common mess, is 
merely a license for conduct which their parents would not tol- 
erate at their own tables, and which would not be permitted in 
any gentlemen's club on shore. The general mess, therefore, 
would advance the moi'ale of the service, while the hygiene of 
the ship would be benefited by the consequent diminution of 
the servant-class. It is not, of course, proposed to deprive the 
commander of his private quarters and officer, where he can reg- 
ulate discipline and discuss the weighty affairs of state with for- 
eign dignitaries, nor any other officer of the seclusion of his own 
apartment; but the common mess-room would be found an agree- 
able place for friendly and unofficial commingling, which would 
lead to the re-establishment of those intimacies, once the bond 
and pride of the Navy. The absorption of the steerage-messes 
would, moreover, allow clerks, commanders, and paymasters to 
be dispensed with. The duties of the former could appropriately 
be performed by the midshipmen or ensigns in rotation, whom it 
is desirable to have acquire a knowledge of the methods of official 
correspondence and who ought to be as trusty repositors of State 
secrets as the irresponsible parties now appointed. An assistant 
paymaster should be attached to every vessel for clerical duty 
and instruction, and the pharmaceutic work of the apothecary, 
whom I have elsewhere, assuming the permanence of existing 



io2 Exercise. 

conditions, advised to be made a steerage officer, would naturally 
and properly devolve upon an assistant surgeon. Nor need the 
warrant officers stand in the way of this scheme. They are few 
in number, inconsistent with the size of the naval establishment, 
and in a majority of the vessels of the Navy their duties are 
actually and efficiently performed by their mates, who could sup- 
ply their places in all, except in the case of the gunner, whose 
more important responsibilities ought to pertain to commissioned 
officers especially educated and skilled in ordnance. These 
mates would partake in that improvement of dress and privilege 
which I have asked for the petty [preferably, non-commissioned] 
officers, and thus be assinrlated to the corresponding grades in 
the army; while sufficient employment on shore could be found 
for the present holders of warrants, many of whom are estimable 
gentlemen, far superior to their enforced humble surroundings on 
board ship, as was done with the former master's corps, until 
their extinction by death or resignation. 



CLIMATIC INFLUENCES 



The exposures incident to the sailor's life are supposed to fit 
him to endure with impunity extremes of temperature or any in- 
clemency of season. It is a popular belief that no amount of 
soaking in salt water will give one cold, though an old salt who 
is not also a chronic rheumatic is a rarity. The carelessness con- 
sequent upon these ideas has its result, as shown by statistics, in 
shortening the seaman's life. However slow to contract disease 
or to be affected by ordinary vicissitudes, the unnatural circum- 
stances under which he lives give an unfavorable character to all 
his complaints, and maladies of equal severity in their incipiency 
.are, therefore, more fatal at sea than on shore. The most po- 
tent causes of disease in the seaman are not accidental exposure 
to cold, occasional getting wet, gluttonous eating of unripe fruit, 
nor indulgence in unrestrained debauch; but they are those which 
gradually undermine his constitution, and result from the neglect 
to adapt his diet, dress, and duty to the hygienic requirements of 
the climate in which he lives. Sailors are made up of the same 
tissues as princes and gentle folk, and though habit may modify 
the effects of natural causes, it cannot altogether nullify them. 
Darwin declares that "it is certain that with sailors their manner 
of life delays growth," as shown by the great difference between 
the statures of soldiers and sailors. It is now very generally 
believed that certain races were created for certain localities, if 
not created in or by them. Acclimation is no longer regarded 
as a fact, for such excellent authorities as Johnson and Martin 
assert that " residence confers only certain immunities and privi- 
leges, and that so far only is there truth in the doctrine of accli- 
mation." Even this tolerance, created by a residence of a 
year or two in a foreign climate, is • at the expense ot constitu- 



io4 Climatic Influences. 



tional vigor. Dr. Bloodgood writes with respect to Panama what 
is equally true of many other inter-tropic pest-holes entered by our 
national vessels : "Acclimation is impossible; no one of what- 
ever race or country, who becomes a resident of the Isthmus 
escapes disease ; not even beasts are exempt,and nothing but change 
of climate can eradicate the effects of the poisoning from that 
malaria." The Government has, therefore, acted wisely in 
abandoning the practice of long cruises. Three years are the 
most that can be safely passed on any one station notably unlike 
the native climate, since, with every attention to hygienic pre- 
cautions, there will be such a general loss of constitutional 
strength among the crew that they will become ill from slight 
causes, and such permanent organic injury will be received by 
many officers as well as men as to unfit them for future energetic 
duty. A British steam sloop-of-war, cruising on the Caribbean 
coast of Central America, in 1859, had had nearly three complete 
crews during the five years she had been in commission, and her 
commander told me that those officers and men who had re- 
mained from the beginning were becoming stultified in mind. A 
liberal government like our own has no excuse in the saving of 
expense, if there really be any such, to commit the inhumanity 
of compelling its men and officers to remain so long from their 
families and country. The best American merchant sailors will 
not enter the service while they are kept away beyond two years, 
and officers are not made better citizens and members of society 
if they are exiled until the recollection of home becomes almost 
a dream of the past. 

Of extreme climates, the cold are more readily borne by our 
crews than the hot, being more like the rigorous winters to which 
they have been accustomed. The effects of cold, moreover, can 
be better guarded against, not only by proper clothing but by the 
observance of a strict hygiene, especially in the matter of diet 
and ventilation. Raw fat meat seems to be the appropriate food, 
though the scurvy of the frigid zone is not merely the result of 
improper alimentation, but of neglect of all the laws of health. 



Climatic Influences. 105 



Instinct and appetite guide to what should be eaten , but foul air 
and filth are submitted to despite the frightful havoc they assist- 
in causing. What an intelligent observance of sanitary laws will 
accomplish under the most unfavorable circumstances was mark- 
edly demonstrated in the Arctic expedition commanded and di- 
rected by Dr. Hayes. 

The combined influences of protracted exposure to thee levated 
temperature, moisture, and organic growth and decay, which 
characterize tropical climates, and of an almost universally 
neglected hygiene, occasion serious functional disturbances, 
which lay the foundation of irreparable structural lesions, the 
peculiarities of which are, of course, familiar to the educated 
physician. The lungs and kidneys are brought into fuller activ- 
ity under a low temperature, while the liver and skin are excited 
to greater functional effort under a high one. Zymotic fevers ? 
diarrhoea, and dysentery are the most intractable of the com- 
plaints of the torrid zone, but they are so fully described in the 
current medical literature as to render unnecessary any special 
reference to their technical history. When the interests of the 
service require the visit to or prolonged sojourn in any unhealthy 
place, the advice and judgment of the medical officer must be 
relied on to provide for the special necessities of the time. The 
prophylactic administration of the salts of quinine, the diminu- 
tion of the ration of meat and increase of the proportion of vege- 
tables, the purchase of fruits, and the issue of spirits or its sub- 
stitution by wine, are among those measures that should be left 
to his individual discretion. I have only to indicate a few pre- 
cautions of universal applicability. 

Although the permanent squadron on the west coast of Africa 
has been discontinued, vessels of the European fleet occasionally 
resort there, and the sanitary regulations of Secretary Preston, 
issued January 23, 1850, are still in operation, (vide paragraph 
832, Regulations for the Navy, 1870,) and should be enforced on 
all other stations where similar climatic conditions prevail, as in 
the East and West Indies, and on the coast of Central America. 



io6 Climalie Influences. 



1. No officer or man will be permitted to be on shore before sunrise or 
after sunset, or to sleep there at night ; this rule to apply not only to the con- 
tinental coast but to the Cape de Verde Islands. 

2. No United States vessel will ascend or anchor in any of the African 
rivers, except upon imperative public service. 

3. Boat excursions up rivers, or hunting parties on shore, are forbidden. 

4. Vessels, when possible, will anchor at a reasonable distance from shore ; 
far enough not to be influenced by the malaria floated off by the land-breeze. 

5. Convalescents from fever and other diseases, when condemned by med- 
ical survey, are to be sent to the United States with the least possible delay. 

6. When the general health of a ship's company shall be reported as im- 
paired by cruising upon the southern or equatorial portion of the coast, the 
earliest possible opportunity will be given them to recruit by transferring the 
ship for a time to the Canaries or other windward islands of the station. 

7. Boat and shore duty, involving exposure to sun and rain, is to be per- 
formed, so far as the exigencies of the service will permit, by the Kroomen 
employed for that purpose. 

8. All possible protection from like exposure is to be afforded to the ship's 
company on board ; and the proper clothing a7td diet of the crew, as well 
as the ventilation and care of the decks, will be made a frequent subject for the. 
inspectioji aitd advice of the medical officers. 

9. These regulations are to be considered as permanent, and each com- 
manding officer of the squadron, on retiring from the station, will transfer 
them to his successor. 

The danger of sleeping or remaining on shore after dark in 
malarial climates, on account of the greater activity of the mor- 
bific cause or the greater susceptibility of its deleterious effects 
at that time, is generally understood; while the universally 
admitted atmospheric contamination implied in the use of the 
word malaria, though its particular character is not known, 
points to the prime necessity of keeping as far away from its influ- 
ence as possible by avoiding anchorages in narrow streams and 
inlets and to leeward of prevailing winds, and by intervening such a 
surface of water as has been practically found to confer immu- 
nity, through the surmised absorption of the aerial poison. Ham- 
mond quotes the following paragraph in point, from Sir Gilbert 
Blane: " I have known a hundred yards in a road make a dif- 
ference in the health of a ship at anchor, by her being under the 
lee of marshes in one situation and not in another." This has 
often been remarked in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, and Sur- 



Climatic Influences. 107 



geon Bloodgood, United States Navy, has shown that it was 
the case in the harbor of Panama, when the Jamestown was so 
terribly scourged by yellow fever. In the British admiralty 
health reports it is stated that " the Hibernia, at Malta, during 
the cholera, was moored within one hundred yards of the infected 
districts, and the ship remained throughout the whole pestilence 
free from any fatal attack." 

The fifth, sixth, and seventh of Secretary Preston's regulations 
are so exceedingly important that every infraction of them should 
be visited with the severest censure of the Department. Inva- 
lids should be sent home without delay ; vessels should tempora- 
rily change their cruising grounds; and crews should be relieved 
as much as possible from duty, especially menial drudgery, in- 
volving exposure to sun and rain. Moseley and other writers 
on tropical climates advise that all merely laborious work should 
be performed by negroes, lascars, coolies, and others inured 
to the climate. As the Government authorizes the employ- 
ment of Kroomen on the coast of Africa for boat and shore 
duty, many vessels of the Asiatic fleet have been provided with 
Chinese " fast-boats," manned by natives ; but some command- 
ing officers, either with a desire to save expense, or because they 
consider that " men are shipped for any work, and if they die 
their places can be supplied by others," compel their crews to do 
this duty, at all hours of the day, in any weather, and at any sea- 
son. The cost of the fast-boat, however, will be many times 
defrayed by the saving of health. Admit that only ten men be- 
come ill from exposure to the heat of a single tropical summer, 
would it not have been more profitable to have had those men 
well and in efficient condition, than encumbering the deck with 
their cots, incommoding their shipmates, and interrupting the 
ordinary routine of exercise ? Probably half of them will require 
to be invalided and returned to the United States, and the cost 
of passage home, the payment of wages for services never per- 
formed, and those of the green recruits, who supply the invalids' 
places, the subsistence of the latter for months at a naval hospi- 
tal, and their subsequent pensioning for the balance of their lives, 



lo8 Climatic Influences. 



would have employed a score of native boats with crews unaf- 
fected by the climate, and given to the Government the strength 
and spirit of these five men to fight its battles. The other reason 
adduced for not employing Chinamen, which is no fiction, since 
it was advanced to me, is disgraceful to the character of an 
American officer. That it is not the theory of the Government 
is evident from the general order of January 23, 1850. The sea- 
man is hired for other purposes than those of pulling pleasure 
parties of officers to and from the shore when the thermome 
ter stands above ioo° F. He has devoted his life to the service 
of his country, and stands ready to shed his blood in its cause. 
The ship's batteries are that country's defenses, and he should 
be kept in a condition to man them. Without his strength and 
bravery, what will avail all the skill of the navigator, all the sci- 
ence of the ordnance officer, or all the planning and maneuver- 
ing of the commander ? 

Besides avoiding the exposure of men by not sending them 
out of the vessel at improper hours, they should be protected on 
board ship from intense tropical heat both at sea and in port. 
Awnings ought always to be kept spread, fore and aft, when the 
temperature exceeds 8o° F. They should protect not only the 
poop and quarter-deck, but the main-deck, forecastle, and head. 
As the awnings in port are usually very high from the deck, the 
protection they afford will be insufficient unless curtains are at- 
tached. They should be set before the spar-deck is perfectly 
dry, if it has been washed, that the slow evaporation may assist 
in keeping down the temperature ; and if the deck becomes dry 
and hot during the day, it should be occasionally irrigated. 
Painting the hull of a vessel of a light color very materially 
affects the temperature of the covered decks. The tops should 
be provided with awnings, that those men on duty aloft may find 
a shelter when not on the yards nor in the rigging. The lookout 
on the topsail-yard should also be screened and relieved every 
half-hour, or, in calm weather, at shorter intervals, and, if this is 
impossible, should be dispensed with, except when imperatively 



Climatic I?jflue?ices. 109 



necessary for the safety of the ship. Many men ai£ victims to 
the routine of keeping lookouts aloft, when it would be sufficient 
to have them in the tops or even on deck. The sentries on post 
in the gangways should be protected by small awnings or flies, 
and they should be frequently relieved. Numerous cases of 
coup-de-soleil occur among this class, who are made to parade a 
gang-plank two hours at a time, dressed in a closely-buttoned 
uniform, and carrying a heavy musket and accouterments, with- 
out any more attempt at shelter than would be afforded in their 
own temperate climate. A pensioner on the navy list, some time 
since residing in New York, who is affected with hemiplegia, 
consequent upon insolation, was disabled under precisely such cir- 
cumstances ; and several others cases which resulted less seriously, 
occurred on board the same vessel in the East Indies. When 
boats are required to be sent away in the hot part of the day, 
their awnings should be spread, and this manifestly applies to 
the very largest launch and smallest din guy, as to those ordina- 
rily used. 

In very hot weather (above 85 F.) no work nor exercise ot 
any kind should be performed after 9 a. m. nor before 5 p. m., 
unless absolutely indispensable at that time, and then only under 
shelter, and the reasons for such unavoidable work or exercise 
should be entered on the log. Tarring rigging, scraping spars, 
scrubbing copper, painting^ ship, divisional exercises, small-arm 
drill, etc., at such a time, are barbarous because inexcusable. 
The dangers that are sought to be avoided are neither imaginary 
nor exaggerated. I have seen a new fore-topsail bent at n 
o'clock on a calm morning, the thermometer indicating 12 6° F. 
in the sun, and followed by the fatal sickness of the captain of the 
top, and the serious illness, within forty-eight hours, of seven ot 
the men who had been at work upon the yard. The weather 
was pleasant all day long, and others concurred with me that the 
work could have been as w r ell done early in the morning or late 
in the evening. Dr. Maclean, in Reynolds' " System of Medi- 
cine," relates several historical instances of insolation occurring 



no Climatic Influences. 



in the field, or barracks, among the most striking being the fpl- 
lowing: " The two wings of Her Majesty's thirteenth regiment 
marched, after some very ill-judged exposure and drilling in the 
sun, from Nuddea to Berampore, in the midst of the hot weather, 
and, as the result of one march, the day closed with a sick-list of 
sixty-three, and eighteen deaths in all." " The sixty-eighth regi- 
ment, quartered in Fort St. George, Madras, which attended the 
funeral of a general officer, and paraded in full-dress at an early 
hour in the afternoon, in one of the hottest months in the year, 
their tight-fitting coats buttoned up, their leather stocks as stiff 
and unyielding as horse-collars round their necks, heavy cross- 
belts, so contrived as to interfere with every movement of the 
chest, heavy shakoes on their heads, made of black felt, mounted 
with brass ornaments, with wide, flat, circular tops, ingeniously 
contrived to concentrate the sun's rays on the crown of the head, 
and without protection in the way of a depending flap for the 
neck ; so dressed, the men marched several miles. Before the 
funeral parade was over the soldiers began to fall senseless; one 
died on the spot — two more in less than two hours. Men suf- 
fering from insolation in various degrees were brought .into hos- 
pital all that night and part of next day." " The ninety-eighth 
came from England in the Belleisle, an old 74-gun ship, and suf- 
fered from overcrowding. On the 21st of July they took part in 
the attack on Chin-Kiang-Foo. The men were dressed precisely 
as those of the sixty-eighth. In this condition they had to take 
possession of a steep hill exposed to the fiercest rays of the sun 
shining out of an unclouded sky. A great many were struck 
down by the heat, of whom fifteen died." The most recent in- 
stance of criminal disregard of sanitary teachings has occurred 
since I began writing. The first battalion of the tenth regiment 
of British infantry was marched from its camp at Yokohama after 
parade on the morning of August 8, 1871, to the French Hatoba, 
where it embarked. The men were heavily armed and accou- 
tered, and though exposed to the sun less than three hours, the 
thermometer at 92 F., shade temperature, six cases of sun-stroke 



Climatic Influences. in 



occurred, of which three, two sergeants and a private, died. 
Three of the marines who relieved them, and who were landed 
immediately afterward and marched to the camp they had va- 
cated, also succumbed to the heat. 

The symptoms of insolation often occur among men not ex- 
posed to the direct rays of the sun — in the fire-room of steamers, 
on board the monitor class of armored vessels, in small, ill-ven- 
tilated cells. Dr. Kitchen informed me that while surgeon of the 
monitor Dictator it was common for men to be brought to him 
for treatment with coma, stertorous respiration, great heat of skin, 
full quick pulse, and often convulsions. The cause was mani- 
festly enough the exhausting labors of a watch in the fire-room, 
where the temperature averaged 145 F., and where the ventila- 
tion was exceedingly defective, air that had been already respired 
being repeatedly returned. Maclean states that "insolation has 
frequently been observed on board ship, but almost always under 
conditions similar to those in barracks — that is, where over- 
crowding and impure air are added to the influence of excessive 
heat. Insolation is not uncommon on board the mail-steamers 
in the Red Sea in the hot months of August and September; it 
has been observed that most of the cases occurred while the suf- 
ferers were in the horizontal position in their ill-ventilated cab- 
ins," and he quotes the following : ". Assuredly," says Dr. Butler, 
surgeon of the third cavalry, " those barracks most crowded, least 
ventilated, and worst provided with punkahs and other appli- 
ances to moderate excessive heat, furnished the greatest number 
of fatal cases." Surgeon Longmore, of the nineteenth regiment, 
notes that one -third of his cases and nearly half the deaths oc- 
curred in one company of the regiment quartered in the barrack, 
which was manifestly the worst conditioned as to ventilation, 
and, indeed, in every sanitary requirement. M. Bassier, a sur- 
geon in the French navy, reports that the man-of-war brig Le 
Lynx, cruising off Cadiz, in the month of August, had eighteen ■ 
cases of insolation out of a crew of seventy-eight men. The heat 
was excessive (91-9 5° F.) and much aggravated by calms. The 



ii2 Climatic Influences. 



ship was overcrowded, offering little space for the berthing of the 
crew. M. Boudin quotes the case of the French man-of-war 
Duquesne, which, while at Rio de Janeiro, had a hundred cases 
of insolation out of a crew of six hundred men. Most of the 
men were attacked, not when, exposed to the direct heat of the 
sun, but at night when in the recumbent position — that is, when 
breathing not only a hot and suffocating, but also an impure air. 
Other morbid conditions often attend or follow heat-exhaustion. 
I have had two marines on my sick-list with abscesses developed 
during confinement in " sweat-boxes," in the months of June and 
August, in the tropics. In one the collection of pus was located 
in front of the neck; the man was comatose, and, on recovering 
consciousness, complained of no pain. In the other it was devel- 
oped on the upper arm, and was attended with throbbing pain 
and greatly increased heat of surface. In both the pulse was 
full, hard, and strong, the respiration labored, and the body 
drenched with sweat, showing that the heat was as active a cause 
of disease as the impoverished air. 

After a long and stormy passage through the Indian Ocean, 
the Levant arrived at Anjer Roads, in Java, on the 25th of 
March, 1856, when the heat was intense. Her crew were enfee- 
bled and many of them exhibited evidences of the scorbutic 
cachexia, in consequence of -the deteriorated and unsuitable char- 
acter of their food, which the insufficient daily issue of wood did 
not allow to be properly cooked; of their short allowance of water, 
which was impure; of their confinement on board ship since the 
previous October, when she went into commission ; and of their 
unusually arduous labors in the high southern latitudes, where 
they were exposed for several weeks to a continuance of cold, 
damp, and rainy weather. Notwithstanding their condition they 
were laboriously employed, working from daylight until dark for 
two days, getting on board wood which was wet and green, and 
water, white from organic impurities, and which had run through 
a series of dirty, wooden troughs into an equally dirty reservoir. 
The vessel sailed on the evening of the third day, and within a 



Climatic Influences. 113 



few hours that night twenty-four cases of cholera communis were 
reported, two of the lieutenants among the number. Few of 
these men were ever able afterward to do their duty properly. 
As events proved, this was their preparation for a tedious pas- 
sage of forty-six days across the China Sea to Hong-Kong, a 
distance of only twelve hundred miles, but entirely within the 
tropics, (latitude 8° south to 20 north,) at the season of the 
change of monsoons, when the high temperature is not moder : 
ated by any breeze nor the scorching heat of the tropical sun 
scarcely ever shielded by a clouded sky, and when the glassy 
surface of the sea reflects and concentrates the heat upon the ship, 
whose black sides greedily absorb it. The deck-load of freshly 
cut green wood added an unwholesome moisture to the atmos- 
phere, and the unfiltered water, with which the tanks had been 
filled, preferred for cheapness, soon decomposed and became 
offensive and unpalatable. The men had gorged themselves 
with oranges, mangosteens, and other fruit daring their short stay 
at Anjer; but the supply of chickens, vegetables, and fruit which 
they brought away with them was soon exhausted, and they were 
again fed with the mahogany-like " salt horse," green fat pork, 
worm-eaten bread, weeviled beans, and musty rice, which they 
had had to eat in the chilly regions of the Southern Ocean. The 
paltry interval of three days in ninety-seven had brought no relief 
to their jaded and debilitated bodies; but they were occupied 
with the still severer labor of working ship for every " cat's-paw" 
under the additional morbific influence of a vertical tropical sun. 
Most of the intractable cases of diarrhoea and dysentery, and the 
large majority of deaths during the cruise, can be directly traced 
to this period. The asthenic habit of constitution, which ren- 
dered these complaints fatal, was evidently fixed upon them by 
the various concurrent circumstances in operation thus early in 
the cruise. After her arrival on the station, this vessel did not, 
like the rest of the squadron, employ a Chinese fast-boat, and 
the results of this and other violations of hygienic mandates were 
plainly shown in a sick-list of thirteen hundred and forty-five cases 

8 N H 



ii4 Climatic Influences. 



during the thirty months of her commission. Nor were the sick- 
ness and inefficiency of the crew the only consequences of this 
utter disregard of sanitary laws. One of the officers, who in- 
spected her at the end of her cruise, told me that she was the 
most unclean and ill-conditioned vessel he had ever seen. 

Much of the sickness which is attributed to visiting infectious 
ports arises from the foul condition of the holds and limbers of 
the vessels themselves. Although the fever might not have ap- 
peared but for the visit to the port, it is equally true that it would 
not have been developed but for the uncleanness of the ship 
itself. The decay of the wood of the vessel and of the chips 
under the ceiling, the leakage of brine from provision casks and 
of molasses and vinegar from the spirit-room, the drippings of 
oil from the machinery of steamers, the sifting of coal-dust from 
the bunkers and of ashes from the lire-room, the influx of salt 
water, its admixture with fresh spilled from the tanks and the 
consequent death of the microscopic organisms which inhabit it, 
together form a putrescible mass, the malarious emanations from 
which pervade the vessel and occasion a general predisposition 
to zymotic and paroxysmal febrile affections; therefore, while so 
much attention is being given to the avoidance of unhealthy lo- 
calities, let some little be paid to the smoldering pestilential fire 
— the artificial marsh over which so many human beings are liv- 
ing in fancied security. On this point very valuable testimony 
is borne by the annual report of the Health of the Navy, issued 
by the British admiralty, for the years 1865-66: "The Mada- 
gascar was long infected with yellow fever at Rio de Janeiro, and 
when inspected it was discovered that the sides of the ship and 
die lining were in many places decayed, damp, and rotten, and 
on lifting the limber boards a quantity of black, offensive mud 
was discovered, the smell of which caused nausea, vomiting, and 
diarrhoea in several persons present." It is also stated in the 
case of the Isis. at Sierra Leone, that " there can be no question 
that the existence of the fever poison in that vessel did not 
depend on the locality, but on the vessel itself:" the latter even 



Climatic Influences. 115 



becoming a focus from which infection spread to other vessels, 
since " within six or seven weeks no fewer than twenty-eight 
deaths among the crews of two ships-of-war, from this malignant 
fever, were clearly due to communication with the Isis • all these 
deaths occurring exclusively among men who had gone on board 
that vessel." It is a point of great practical interest in respect to 
severe outbreaks of yellow fever on board ship, that " nearly all 
the vessels which have been most scourged in late years were 
unmistakably unhealthy ships, as evidenced by their larger num- 
ber of cases of general sickness, not only during the yellow fever 
years, but also in those which preceded or followed them. This 
was the case with the Aube, Icarus, L'Eclair, and the same holds 
true of other vessels which have sustained fatal attacks of fever." 
The reputation of the L'Eclair was such that to efface the remem- 
brance of the terrible disease the admiralty changed her name to 
Rosamond. Undoubtedly, the ultimate universal substitution of 
iron for wood in -ship-building will be productive of immense 
sanitary advantages, on account of the freedom from the nocu- 
ous products of the decomposition of the material of the vessel 
and of the debris of its construction, and the greater facilities for 
keeping it clean and admitting air to the interior of its frame- 
work. 

There is no question of the propriety of preventing access to a 
vessel of which the crew is affected with malignant, communi- 
cable diseases; neither is there any doubt of the urgent necessity 
of removing every individual of that crew without delay to some 
healthy and isolated place on shore. The system of quarantine^ 
however, which proposes to imprison both sick and well upon the 
infected vessel until the endemic exhausts itself for lack of new 
victims, is a barbarous relic of popular ignorance and supersti- 
tion. The sanitary regulations of the United States and Great 
Britain are sufficiently liberal, and at the large sea-ports are gen- 
erally judiciously interpreted by the health officers; but in Por- 
tuguese, and especially in Spanish ports, the most annoying, friv- 
olous quarantines are still exacted. I have known a man-of-war 



1 1 6 Climatic Influences. 



to sail from Philadelphia in midwinter, arrive at Cadiz after a 
passage of forty days, and be quarantined for having no bill ot 
health; another, provided with the proper document, to be 
placed under observation because it did not bear the vise of the 
Spanish consul ; and a third, coming from a port where there 
w r as no such official, to have the same fortune because the law 
did not provide for such a contingency. On another occasion I 
protested, ineffectually, to the health authorities of Fayal against 
the placing in quarantine of a detachment of officers and men 
who had gone to rescue a sinking merchantman, one hundred 
and fifty days out of port. Occasionally similar annoyances are 
experienced in our own country. During the period of my offi- 
cial connection with the United States navy-yard near Ports- 
mouth, New Hampshire, I had serious trouble with the local 
health officers, w T ho refused to consent to the immediate debarka- 
tion of the crews of vessels sent north from the Gulf of Mexico, 
often with only mild pseudo-yellow fever, though abundant op- 
portunities existed for isolating not only the invalids and conva- 
lescents, but the unaffected crew and the abandoned vessel. The 
various health authorities of New York and the other munici- 
palities fronting on the bay have been but lately engaged in dis- 
graceful squabbles over their several rights to grant pratiqice to 
vessels from suspected ports. Hence, it would be in the inter- 
ests of commerce and humanity if the whole subject of quaran- 
tine were placed under the control of sanitary officers appointed 
by the General Government. Michel Levy and Fonssagrives, 
in their respective works on hygiene, have protested energetic- 
ally against the useless and ridiculous impositions of the system 
of quarantine in vogue, and the medical officers of every navy 
are agreed that, no matter w T hat the disease, both sick and well 
should be immediately removed from the vessel, which should 
be thoroughly cleansed and renovated. The health reports of 
the British admiralty state : " Within the last ten or twelve years 
cases of yellow fever have, on more than one occasion, been 
\anded from ships of war in Plymouth and Hasler hospitals with- 



Climatic Liflnences. 117 



out any but good results. The results in Jamaica, in i860, were 
eminently satisfactory. The same seems to have been the case 
in 1856, the most sickly year, when fever was prevalent on shore 
at Port Royal and Kingston." In the numerous instances of 
late years where crews, sick and well, have been landed- at the 
island of Ascension, the disease seems to have speedily much 
abated, and in no instance to have extended to the garrison and 
other residents, always provided that direct communication with 
the infected ship was prevented; and Deputy Inspector General 
Smart, Royal Navy, relates striking proofs of the utility of landing 
the sick in suitable hospitals at Bermuda. 



MORAL INFLUENCES 



The sailor of to-day is not the brute of fifty years ago. The 
barefooted, abject, illiterate being whose back bore the scars of 
the cat is not recognizable in the well-dressed, tidy, manly-look- 
ing seaman who receives his letters and papers regularly from 
home, and signs his name legibly to the shipping articles. The 
many foreign officers and civilians who witnessed the memorable 
inquiry into the circumstances attending the loss of the Oneida, 
at the British consulate at Yokohama, were impressed with the 
intelligent, fearless, and manifestly truthful manner in which the 
surviving lookout and helmsman gave their evidence, and par- 
ticularly with the graceful style in which they affixed their names 
to the record. While it was once almost unnecessary to inquire 
wmether a man could write his name, it is now the exception that 
" his + mark" appears on the rendezvous returns. The well-filled 
condition of the various ship letter-bags, and the general allot- 
ment of half-pay, attest the commendable home interest of the 
modern sailor. The quiet, dignified old quartermaster, who off 
duty sits conning his Bible ; the young quarter-gunner reading 
stories and travels to a crowd of listeners ; the ambitious ordinary 
seaman working out problems from the Bowditch borrowed from 
the navigator, are now to be seen on board every vessel of war. 

There are some naval officers, generally themselves antiquated, 
who insist that the social improvement of the sailor has been at 
the expense of discipline and nautical knowledge; but there are 
others of equal experience and brighter minds who candidly 
acknowledge the contrary. The abolition of the cat was a nat- 
ural consequence of this moral advancement ; therefore the advo- 
cates for its restoration are only attempting to re-inoculate a con- 
valescent body with the virus of the disease from which it has 



Moral Influences. 119 



recovered. The necessity of former times, if there ever was such, 
has ceased, as witness the testimony of Fonssagrives, whose ex- 
haustive work on naval hygiene establishes his authority : " We 
do not believe that the sailor of to-day is that of 1790; he has 
changed with the public character, and to desire to treat him in 
the same manner is to commit a flagrant anachronism. Physical 
suffering is, moreover, a bad appeal to make among men who 
are neither degraded nor vicious. This punishment excites hate 
more often than repentance, and has never reformed any one. 
The abolition of flogging, therefore, is a judicious measure. Be- 
sides, this punishment, like that of ' keel-hauling,' maybe followed 
by grave accidents — sometimes mortal; and that alone should 
suffice, without any motive of moral propriety, to justify its 
abandonment." What is true of the soldier is also true of the 
sister profession of arms. " The day when soldiers were regarded 
as mere machines has passed away. An intelligent man, who 
knows what he is fighting for, and who is capable of appreciating 
the responsibility that rests upon him, is incomparably a better 
soldier than one who is incapable of such intelligent action." — 
(Hammond.) It is not claimed that all sailors are so exemplary ; 
nor is it expected that all the profane, licentious, and drunken 
will ever be transformed into upright, intelligent, well-conducted 
individuals. Although the general character has improved, great 
numbers are as depraved as they can become by unrestrained 
indulgence of their passions. The low haunts of maritime cities 
are still crowded, and the man-of-war's man, though distinguisha- 
ble by dress and bearing, often lends himself to the general de- 
bauchery, and becomes as helpless a victim of the land-shark. 

What can be done to correct these evils ? Though it be no 
more possible to confer on every one the boon of moral health 
than to bring their bodies all into a condition of physical eucrasy, 
enough good may be achieved to reward all our efforts bounti- 
fully. 1 each the sailor that he is a man, with a man's duties 
and capacities. Treat him as such, and require him to act as 
such. Develop his mind, which has been subordinate to his 



12 Moral Influences. 



physical instincts, and that mind will do for him what legislative 
action or individual beneficence cannot. Ethical hygiene is a 
field in which every naval officer, and those of the medical corps 
particularly, should not be ashamed to labor. 

I would first suggest, for the moral improvement of the sailor, 
that every vessel should be furnished with a library — not such as 
is now found in the cabin, behind a glass case, but a library to 
which every man on board can have access. Exclude sensa- 
tional novels, and let it consist of works on natural history, gen- 
eral history, historical romance, travel, geography, popular science, 
biography and navigation; of encyclopedias, magazines, and school- 
books — some rudimentary, and others for advanced students. If 
these are not supplied by the Government, as is desirable, they 
can always be obtained, without much trouble, by subscription. 
They should be placed under the charge of the schoolmaster, or 
some other intelligent petty-officer, as the apothecary or pay- 
master's writer. Arrangements may readily be made with pub- 
lishers to have files of newspapers mailed to vessels on foreign 
stations. Many officers considerately send their papers out on 
the berth-deck after having perused them. Religious associa- 
tions, interested in the moral amelioration of the seaman, occa- 
sionally make donations of packages or boxes of books to sea- 
going vessels ; but these are always so unattractively pious and 
devotional that the sailor, with evident disappointment, lays 
them aside, after endeavoring to read a page or two, and returns 
to his dominoes or checkers, when an interesting tale of travel or 
adventure pleasantly told, or an intelligible account of natural 
phenomena or scientific facts would have secured his attention, 
and contributed as well to his moral as to his mental culture. 
Men should be encouraged to write home, and I have, therefore, 
advised that ditty-boxes should be allowed in preference to bags, 
since not only can writing materials be better preserved in them, 
but they also serve as writing-desks. Some competent person 
should be appointed schoolmaster, to instruct not only the boys, 
but such others as desire to learn in reading, writing, arithmetic, 



Moral Influences. 121 



and geography, and should never be diverted from his legitimate 
duties to act as " executive officer's clerk." 

It is not enough, however, to increase the comfort of the sea- 
man on board ship, to supply him with reading matter, and to 
provide for his instruction. He will not be well if he never leaves 
the ship. Hygiene demands nothing more important, not merely 
for their physical well-being, but for their mental and moral 
healthfulness, than that the men should be allowed frequent lib- 
erty on shore. I have known a whole ship's company, except 
the boats' crews, servants, and a few privileged petty-officers, to be 
confined eight months on shipboard, without, in all that time, 
having once touched foot on land. Is it a matter of wonder, 
then, that when liberty was granted for forty-eight hours, at such 
long intervals, when old and young, adults and boys, were hur- 
ried on shore together, and told if they returned before the expi- 
ration of that time they would forfeit the remainder of their lib- 
erty, that in the delirium of finding themselves outside their prison- 
walls they abandoned themselves to unrestrained debauchery ? 
Was the spectacle of bruised and bloated countenances, of which 
the ship was full for a fortnight after this season, calculated to 
improve the younger portion of the crew, or, as often happened 
when these youngsters were themselves the most riotous offenders, 
did their display, ironed, gagged, and bucked upon the poop, in 
the full view of the harbor, convince them of their folly and sin- 
fulness ? Dr. Wilson relates an instance which exemplifies the 
utter thoughtlessness with which some officers deal with these 
matters : " After a ship had been at anchor for several months in a 
foreign port, without any of the crew having been permitted to 
visit the shore, in a summary court trying a culprit I heard one of 
the members express his views by suggesting that the prisoner be 
sentenced to the seventh punishment, ' deprived of liberty on shore 
in a foreign station.' " The mysterious laws of health, psychical 
and physical, require that a man should visit the land, walk upon 
the earth, breathe its atmosphere, and inhale the odor of its trees 
and flowers. Let him see something more of the place to which 



12 2 Moral I?iflue?ices. 



he sails than the glimpse he catches through the bridle-port or 
over the rail, (for strict discipline does not permit a head to show 
above it,) that he may not have to make the mortifying admission 
when he returns home that he has never been on shore. Let him 
have an incentive to read, study, and inquire about the countries 
he visits, and with what interest will he visit them. Make the 
visits to the shore no longer a novelty and a recognized occa- 
sion for plunging into orgies and dissipation, but an opportunity 
for rational enjoyment, instruction, and exercise. That this is 
not a visionary's scheme was demonstrated by Commander, after- 
wards Admiral, Foote, on board the sloop-of-war Portsmouth, 
during her cruise in the China and East India seas in 1856-57 
and '58, when this system was pursued. Was this a well-disci- 
plined ship ? On none in the squadron were there so little need, 
and so small a record of punishment. Was she clean and well- 
conditioned? Her executive officer, Lieutenant, now Commo- 
dore,* Macomb, to whom I refer for confirmation of my state- 
ments, well deserved the flattering report of the board of inspec- 
tion. Was she efficient as a man-of-war ? The conduct of her 
officers and men at the attack and capture- of the Barrier Forts, 
near Canton, is a matter of official record, and certainly bore 
comparison with that of a sister-ship on which a different prac- 
tice prevailed. Did she maneuver well? There are many still 
in the service who w^ere then on board other vessels, and who 
remember the pride they experienced whenever she entered the 
crowded harbor of Hong-Kong, threaded her course through the 
many sail of every nation there congregated, and anchored, with- 
out mishap, wherever her commander desired. Was she a happy 
ship ? Those who were fortunate enough to be attached to her 
agree that that cruise will be memorable, not only for its general 
interest, but for the harmony that pervaded the ship forward and 
aft, from the time of going into commission until the flag was 
hauled down. I do not desire it understood that this is an iso- 
lated case in the practice of our Navy. The book of Regula- 
tions for the Government of the Navy, issued in 1870, directs 



Moral Influences. 123 



in paragraph 1429 that " petty- officers and men will be permitted 
to visit the shore on suitable occasions when it can be done with- 
out injury to the public service;" but the interpretation of the 
terms " suitable occasions" and "injury to the public service" 
depends entirely on the will or caprice of the commanding offi- 
cer. I believe that those commanders who are pre-eminent for 
professional skill and broad and liberal views of their duties and 
obligations to those under their command, without exception, 
authorize the granting of frequent leaves of absence to their crews, 
though I have had but two opportunities of personally witnessing 
the effects of this system on board the men-of-war to which I 
have been attached during the seventeen years of my service in 
the Navy. These were the brig Dolphin, commanded by the 
present Admiral Steedman ; and the sloop-of-w T ar St. Louis, when 
under the command of Captain George Henry Preble. Men 
seldom look back with any great satisfaction upon the months 
they have passed away from home and country on a foreign 
cruise; but I think few who were attached to these vessels,, 
whether as men or officers, do not often recall the happy associa- 
tions connected with them. Throughout the many months the 
latter ship was anchored in the harbor of Lisbon there was sel- 
dom a day that some of the crew were not on shore, and I remem- 
ber not only the encomiums their conduct elicited, but on one 
occasion, when a disturbance at the circus was attributed to some 
of her men, with what promptness the journals of the city con- 
tradicted the charge, indicated the young gentlemen who had 
actually caused the difficulty, and intimated that these sons of 
wealthy and influential citizens might profitably imitate the beha- 
voir of the St. Louis sailors, who, of all the crews of the thirty 
men-of-war of various nationalities then in port, were welcomed 
on shore by the people. 

Liberty should not be granted to too many men at one time, 
else the half-dozen incorrigibles who are found in every crew will 
make it an occasion for revenging private injuries or instigating 
disorderly conduct. Let it be understood that every day in port 



124 Moral Influe?ices. 



a single mess will be allowed to go on shore, and that whoever 
returns drunk, dirty, disfigured, or with clothes torn or missing, 
shall forfeit his right to go when it next comes his turn. Let 
such offender, after one deprivation, be again allowed liberty 
when his turn arrives a third time, and if again offending be per- 
manently deprived the privilege. Let it also be understood that 
whoever overstays his leave compels the whole of the next mess 
to remain on board until he returns, and there will be few who 
will care to encounter the ill-will of their shipmates by so doing, 
and whose punishment will not be gladly witnessed by them. 
Opportunities for visiting the shore might also be multiplied by 
changing boats' crews weekly or semi-monthly, the coxswains 
only remaining the same. All hands would thus be able to par- 
take of advantages now enjoyed only by a few. The institution 
of the system of frequent liberty, besides the sanitary good it 
accomplishes, serves to reward the meritorious and punish the 
worthless, and operates as a more powerful check to intoxication 
than pledges, lectures, or enforced abstinence. 

As in many foreign ports efforts are being made to eradicate 
venereal disease by subjecting the public women to sanitary 
examinations, it is important that similar inspections be required 
of men going on shore. Unless very frequent leaves of absence 
are granted, men invariably indulge in sexual intercourse, whether 
diseased or not, and those affected with chronic gonorrhoea delib- 
erately do so with the object of transferring the disease from 
themselves to the woman, a therapeutic effect which Jack has 
undoubtedly often observed, though he mistakes the rationale of 
the cure effected. Similarly well-founded is his horror of the 
doctor's attempt to prevent the suppuration of his "blue ball;" 
for though ignorant of the distinction between chancre and chan- 
croid, he knows that a bubo that does not " break " will be followed 
by the horrible train of constitutional symptoms. As long as the 
sexual impulse exists it will be gratified, and, if not naturally, by 
such expedients as can be adopted, and the ingenuity will be 
exercised to devise novel modes of excitation. I have never 



Moral Influences. 



been attached to a ship in the service on board which manustu- 
pration and paederasty were not practiced, the latter, of course, 
more rarely than the former. Other officers may deny that they 
have heard of them, but I know these vices to be common, and 
generally unknown only because uninvestigated or undiscovered. 
" It is not to be denied that, however purified and fortified, the 
sex-passion, in a healthy, continent adult, is very powerful; very 
different from the sickly craving of the voluptuary, or the mad, 
half-poetical desires of a boy." " How much severer occasional 
incontinence makes the necessary struggle to remain continent at 
all appears from the sexual distress which widowers or those mar- 
ried men to whom access to their wives is forbidden suffer." — 
(Acton.) It can, therefore, scarcely be expected that the humble 
wearer of blue flannel will excel him in blue broadcloth in that 
mastery of his desires which theologians enjoin as necessary to 
that purity of heart which is among the promised beatitudes, and 
hence the naval hygienist has no other alternative than to recom- 
mend frequent liberty on shore as the only practicable means of 
preventing the commission of secret sexual vices, though when 
these habits are established even this will not serve to eradicate 
them, as witness certain cases well known to medical officers in 
our own and the British navy among officers of high rank. 
Among the causes which formerly operated to enfeeble the sail- 
or's constitution and shorten his life, I have no hesitancy in in- 
cluding celibacy. Reveille-Parise states that " amid the abun- 
dant statistics which have been collected lately, it has been dem- 
onstrated that bachelors live a shorter time than the Benedicts;" 
and Dr. Stark, as quoted by Darwin, declares that '-bachelorhood 
is more destructive to life than the most unwholesome trades, or 
than a residence in an unwholesome house, or district, where 
there has never been the most distant attempt at sanitary improve- 
ment." In former days, in our own service, and even now, where 
the systems of long enlistment and infrequent leaves of absence 
prevail, the man-of-w*ar's man was virtually a celibate. I have 
known him return from an absence pf three or four years, reship 



126 Moral Influences. 



for another cruise, sometimes . on the morrow, often the same 
week of his discharge, and thus pass years within the narrow 
compass of a ship's hull. Marriage, under such circumstances, 
was only a form, and even with officers was little better. A 
friend now high on the list, out of the first eleven years-of his 
married life had not passed a sum-total of eleven months at 
home; and another, a British naval officer of rank, told me that 
though he had been married twenty-two years, he had lived less 
than an aggregate of one with his family. Instances like these 
will probably never again occur, at least in our own Navy, since 
every officer is by regulation entitled to a period of shore duty 
after each full cruise at sea, and sailors who obtain honorable 
discharges are also allowed three months' full pay on shore. 

As an additional reward for good behavior, a liberal allowance 
of money should be made, and withheld from the undeserving, 
for the purchase of books, curiosities, or presents for friends at 
home. Most men have some dear relative or friend, for whom 
they desire to obtain some gift, and any expenditure for such an 
object should be sanctioned and encouraged. 

There is so little to stimulate the ambition of the sailor on 
board a man-of-war that the superior class of native Americans 
are deterred from entering the Navy. In the merchant service 
the seaman aspires to become a mate or master, and, if indus- 
trious, temperate, and qualified, he succeeds ; while in the Navy 
he may be twenty years a petty-officer without enjoying any 
increase of privilege over the ordinary seaman or landsman of 
as many days. His duties are more responsible, greater confi- 
dence is reposed in him, greater deference paid to his opinion ; 
but he dresses as he has always done, he squats at the same 
mess-cloth, and is as much a prisoner on board ship. The Army 
offers opportunities of advancement through the non-commis- 
sioned grades to the line of promotion, and all such meritorious 
preferments are welcomed to their new station with the cordiality 
and public spirit characteristic of this arm (3f the national defense. 
It is a great defect in our naval organization that more distinc- 



Moral Influences. 127 



tion is not made between petty-officers and the rest of the crew. 
Their dress should be strikingly distinctive ; they should consti- 
tute a totally separate mess ; they should be granted greater in- 
dulgences, among them that of going on shore three or four at a 
time when their duties permit, without reference to the liberty 
allowed the other messes. They would then feel that the title 
officer was something more than a farce, and less deserving the 
adjunct " petty," and the silk-embroidered eagle on the arm 
would carry with it more respect than it does now under its fa- 
miliar designation of " buzzard." The positions of mates and 
warrant-officers should be recruited from this class, and spe- 
cial effort should be made to ascertain and report all men quali- 
fied for and ambitious of obtaining such situations. The condi- 
tion of the non-commissioned officers of the Marine Corps, who on 
shore are treated with the same consideration as the correspond- 
ing grades in the Army, is a peculiarly distressing one when they 
come on board ship and are subjected to the same restrictions 
and exactions as the petty- officers with whom they are there 
classed; and many very excellent sergeants have been degraded 
and ultimately ruined by the humiliations which they have suf- 
fered in consequence of this system. The apothecary and yeo- 
man, (the latter an unmeaning title, for which storekeeper should 
be substituted,) the one requiring a semi-professional education 
in pharmacy and the other intrusted with important pecuniary 
responsibilities, and probably also the schoolmaster, when one is 
allowed, properly belong to the class of appointed officers* with 
the clerks of the commander and paymaster, and should mess 
with them in the steerage. Their duties require a far higher order 
of ability, for the clerks are only copyists, and their positions 
would become attractive to young men in the same genteel sta- 
tion in life were they removed from the coarse associations of the 
berth-deck. Much of the illicit treatment, especially of venereal 
complaints, by which the apothecary, unless closely watched by 
the medical officer, will attempt to eke out his inadequate salary, 
will be checked by giving this officer a status correspondent to 



128 Moral Influences . 



the nature of his calling, as in the French, Brazilian, and other 
foreign navies. A still more important gain will be the getting 
rid of the class of imperfectly educated and broken-down drunk- 
ards, who now accept the position because their habits keep them 
from employment on shore, and of the still worse set of incom- 
petents provisionally rated from the deck, who, however carefully 
the hospital liquors may be kept under lock by the medical officer, 
will steal part of those issued to the sick, or drink or sell the alco- 
hol from the spirit-lamp or that from the percolator while making 
tinctures, or even the tinctures themselves, and who never com- 
pound a pill of calomel or quinine without running the risk of 
putting up corrosive sublimate or strychnine, or who add half an 
ounce of some potent liquid to a mixture when the prescription 
calls for half a drachm. 

The act of Congress establishing honorable discharges and the 
institution of honorary badges indicative of every such discharge 
have accomplished excellent results. Care should be taken that 
every man entitled to the distinction receives it, and further that 
none is issued except in meritorious cases. I have seen an hon- 
orable discharge presented at a rendezvous by a man who de- 
sired to reship as a seaman, that being the rate he bore on the 
discharge, who, when examined, was found unable to send down 
a top-gallant-yard or reeve a top-sail buntline, and who finally 
admitted that he had not been in a tap the whole cruise, but had 
been coxswain of the barge and arbitrarily rated seaman. The 
presentation of medals of honor, authorized by Congress, for con- 
spicuous heroism during the rebellion, should be made a perma- 
nent institution. The pride with which Frenchmen display their 
little pieces of ribbon and the emulation excited among English- 
men by their Victoria cross and medal ought to have some par- 
allel in the naval service of our own country. 

Ennui and home-sickness affect the sailor less than the officer, 
but the monotony of his occupation and the protracted confine- 
ment on board ship ultimately cause him to become despondent 
and indifferent to his duties. Frequent occasions of visiting the 



Moral Influences . 129 



shore and an abundance of reading-matter will do much to dissi- 
pate these enervating feelings; but I would suggest, without in- 
tending to interfere with the business of any other department, 
as a further means of occupying and interesting him, that more 
attention be paid on board ship to the minor works of nautical 
manufacture. Every one has observed the general interest ex- 
cited by the occasional weaving of sword-mats and the crowds 
that cluster around the sailmaker's seat, the carpenter's bench, 
and the armorer's forge. Would it not be instructive as well as 
interesting to multiply these occupations, even though no imme- 
diate necessity existed for them ? I do not suggest this, however, 
with the object of simply finding work for the crew. Spars, 
masts, and coamings have been scraped and painted, rescraped 
and repainted, and bright work, introduced wherever possible, 
blacked and polished, reblacked and repolished merely for the 
sake of keeping the men all the time occupied. Such unneces- 
sary and distasteful work makes every one discontented and un- 
happy, particularly when accompanied with the announcement 
that " there will be no Sundays " on board the ship. The sailor 
has a considerable religious element in his character, and, though 
restive under long church services, he entertains a respect for 
everything sacred. In most vessels of the Navy the Sabbath is 
scrupulously observed. Saturdays also are very properly appro- 
priated to the crew, that they may take their bags on deck, sew, 
arrange, and air their clothing, and examine their little posses- 
sions. 

The depressing influences of sea life are to be further overcome 
by encouraging amusements and diversions. Music has its influ- 
ence upon the sailor, as upon the dweller on shore. Witness 
how the fife causes him to redouble his exertions at the capstan 
when almost exhausted with fatigue. A ship with singers and 
instruments on board is always cheerful. The sounds of music, 
dancing, and laughter, which are heard toward sundown, indicate 
the contented crew, and wherever there are mirth and gayety 
there are not apt to be animosity and quarreling, Dominoes, 

9 N H 



130 Moral Influences. 



backgammon, and draughts are also sources of amusement. On 
foreign stations many crews endeavor to enliven their time by- 
organizing theaters, glee-clubs, and negro-minstrel companies, 
whose performances are often exceedingly creditable, while con- 
siderable ingenuity is displayed in getting up costumes and scen- 
ery. At other times they decorate their vessel for fancy balls, in 
which they themselves assume the characters ; and I have known 
a dinner to be given by one ship's company to another, at^which 
speeches were made that could not have been excelled by the 
officers. Often a little interest, encouragement, and pecuniary 
assistance from the officers will lead to undertakings of this kind, 
which might not otherwise have been originated. A magic lan- 
tern, with a proper set of slides, would be invaluable for the occa- 
sional entertainment of the crew, particularly if its exhibitions 
were accompanied with explanatory remarks by some of the offi- 
cers. 

Boat-racing, gymnastic feats in the rigging and on deck, swim- 
ming, fishing, hauling of the seine, and when the circumstances 
of the place will permit, athletic games, as base ball, on shore, 
washing clothes there, etc., will afford sport and diversion of in- 
calculable benefit to the health of the crew, and contribute to the 
diffusion of a spirit of happiness and contentment among them. 
Target-firing, boat-racing, and sailing, and the landing of the 
men for company, battalion, and howitzer drill are not only recrea- 
tions but beneficial exercises. Some divisional officers infuse so 
much interest in the ordinary exercises of the vessel by the enthu- 
siastic, earnest and vivacious manner in which they impart their 
instructions, and by the zeal with which they perform their du- 
ties, that their men always work with alacrity and pleasure. 

While rewards, honors, and diversions are thus multiplied, 
they must not be deprived of their value by inattention to the 
necessity of punishing evil-doers. Discipline is the soul of a man- 
of-war, and implicit obedience to the constituted authorities is 
the prerequisite to discipline. It should be exacted of every man 
and officer on board, and the example of submission to superior 



Moral Ififluences. 131 



authority should be set their crews by commanders and other 
officers themselves. Every regulation of the Navy Department, 
every order of the honorable Secretary of the Navy, and every 
act of Congress should be faithfully and fully obeyed, in the 
spirit and according to the letter, else the officer violating them 
cannot conscientiously punish those who infringe his rules. 

There will be bad men on board all ships, who will interrupt 
order and harmony unless they are promptly and effectually 
punished. The act of Congress specifying the various allow- 
able means of punishment was wisely and humanely framed. 
The penalties prescribed are efficacious, affecting the moral na- 
ture rather than causing physical suffering which may do perma- 
nent injury to the offender's health. The same spirit should ac- 
tuate officers in imposing their lesser punishments. He who com- 
plains that he cannot manage a ship's company without his in- 
struments of torture, only admits his unfitness for his position. A 
man of proper mental resources will find abundant means of 
bringing shame and mortification to the culprit by the withdrawal 
of privileges, the deprivation of spending-money, the restriction 
of liberty, the imposition of extra duties, particularly those of a 
disagreeable kind, etc. The bad are also indirectly but effectu- 
ally punished whenever the good are conspicuously rewarded. 
Although forbidden by law, recent courts-martial have disclosed 
that confinement in " sweat-boxes," or, as they are euphemisti- 
cally termed, " the cells," is still inflicted on board ships, at the 
risk of the life or jeopardy of the health of the man or boy who 
may have been guilty of some trivial offense. Besides its ille- 
gality, it is of a class with bucking and gagging, tricing up by 
the thumbs, the toes only touching the deck, or lashing on the 
inside of the rigging, the bare soles on the rattlins and rope yarns 
cutting into the wrists and ankles — barbarities unworthy the 
nineteenth century. As drunkenness is the source of most of the 
disturbances on board ship, if carefully guarded against there 
will never be occasion for gagging a man raving with alcoholic 
mania. When such cases do occur, rather than resort to 



132 Moral Influences, 



means which aggravate the nervous symptoms and may occasion 
irreparable injury, let them be handed over to the medical officer, 
who by a little judicious treatment can soon quiet them. Pun- 
ishment is thrown away on men whose brains cannot perform 
their functions. When reason and consciousness are restored, 
it will be appreciated and be of profit. No one thinks of gag- 
ging the noisy victim of delirium tremens, yet it would be as ra- 
tional to do so as to try to smother the voice of the yelling ine- 
briate. 



THE SICK-BAY 



It is, of course, the paramount duty of the medical officer to 
provide for the comfort of the sick. In frigates the forward por- 
tion of the berth-deck is assigned to the sick-bay. This apart- 
ment is always disproportionately small, usually badly ventilated, 
imperfectly lighted, sometimes very wet, often foul and offensive 
from leakage from the head-pipes, which lead through it, and 
disturbed by the noise of the chain cables in coming to anchor 
or getting under way. The Guerriere and Tennessee are repre- 
sentatives of the finest and largest of the vessels of the modern 
navy. The former is a first-rate of about 2,500 tons, carrying 
twenty-one guns; the latter a second-rate of 2,135 tons, with a 
battery of twenty-three guns; and both are manned by crews 
ranging from three hundred and fifty to five hundred men. The 
length of the berth-deck of the Guerriere is 3T0 feet, its average 
breadth 28 feet, and its height between decks 6 feet n inches; 
the corresponding measurements of the Tennessee's berth-deck 
are 334 feet 4 inches length, 27 feet 9 inches average breadth, 
and 7 feet 3 inches height ; yet the sick-bay of the former has a 
cubic capacity of only 2,275 f eet > scarcely properly accommodat- 
ing three patients; and that of the latter 4,867 feet, not more 
than is required by five. Important as is this portion of the ves- 
sel, its dimensions are rather a matter of accident or subordinate 
to other considerations, than regulated by the numerical size of 
the crew, the fitness of its location, the nature of the cruising 
ground, and the probable amount of sickness. Unless the sick- 
bay can be removed to its proper site aft, it should be very much 
enlarged and made as comfortable as possible. Two or more 
air-ports should open into it on either side, and a scuttle or hatch- 
way should be cut through the decks overhead for the admission 



134 The Sick-Bay. 



of a wind-sail from either the spar-deck or, weather permitting, 
from the forward gun-deck ports. Several thick glass deck-lights 
should also admit light from the gun-deck. The entire bulkhead 
of the sick-bay should be made of light gratings, which should 
not be furnished with thick woolen curtains, as is commonly 
done. This apartment should be as impervious to water as it is 
possible to make it, and no pretext should ever sanction the dis- 
charge of the men's water-closets through its interior. 

In sloops-of-war, brigs, and other single-deck vessels, the mid- 
ship portion of the berth-deck is appropriated to the sick. Where 
there are midship lockers the mattresses are usually spread on 
top of them ; but this is inconvenient if the lockers require to be 
frequently opened, and as the hawsers, etc., which are usually 
stowed there, can be placed elsewhere, this space should be kept 
free from obstruction and devoted exclusively to the sick-bay. 

To insist upon the cleanliness of this apartment would be to 
impugn the professional qualification of the medical officer, who, 
on board ship as in the bed-chamber on shore, regards this as a 
most important part of the treatment of every case. Everything 
should be scrupulously clean about the invalid. The canvas 
screen which isolates him, and the cot or hammock in which he 
lies, should be of natural whiteness, not soiled by grease and dirt; 
his head should rest upon a white-cased pillow, not be propped 
up by his boots or pea-jacket; and a comfortable hospital mat- 
tress and clean sheets and counterpane should be substituted for 
his own rough, soiled blankets. The patent close-stool, now sup- 
plied all vessels from the Naval Laboratory, admirably answers 
its purpose of preserving the atmosphere of the sick-bay and berth- 
deck free from contamination. One or two cots should always 
be in readiness for the use of the sick. Even when ill but a few 
days it is a great relief for the sailor, who has been bent like a 
bow in his hammock, to lie in a horizontal position, and be able 
to stretch himself out at full length. The wooden cot-frame 
now in use is a clumsy affair that ought to give way to a light iron 
one easily gotten ready for service. The ambulance-cot devised 



The Sick- Bay. 135 



by Surgeon Gorgas, United States Navy, for the especial purpose 
of transporting wounded men, ought to be supplied to every ves- 
sel. The cots containing fever invalids and other cases of serious 
illness should always be slung on the gun-deck of vessels with 
covered batteries, and when the weather will permit, such patients 
should be placed under the top-gallant forecastle of single-deck 
sloops. 

The medical officer must decide how far the healthy members 
of the ship's company are to be inconvenienced by the sick. 
Usually the humanity of the sailor and officer prompts them to 
sacrifice every selfish interest in behalf of their invalid shipmates, 
but occasionally a churlish fellow is met who boasts that he has 
never been sick an hour in his life, and only grudgingly assents 
to or flatly refuses the requests of the medical officer. If the lat- 
ter is known to be zealous, devoted, and self-sacrificing in the 
performance of his duties to the sick, he will seldom have any 
difficulty in having them properly cared for. I have had charge 
of cases of low fever and dangerous operations where the success- 
ful issue was largely, if not entirely, due to the assiduous and 
intelligent watching of the volunteer nurses. Occasionally an 
officer will insist on the blind adherence to routine duty, notwith- 
standing the urgent representations of the medical officer of the 
risk thereby occasioned to critical cases of sickness. Fortunate 
if no harm is done; but I was a witness some years ago of death 
under peculiarly distressing circumstances of this nature. A ma- 
rine, exhausted by a severe pulmonary haemorrhage on the pre- 
vious evening, was lying in a cot on the berth-deck on a Satur- 
day morning, the usual day for holy-stoning the deck. Although 
the danger of moving the man was fully represented, he was car- 
ried on deck and placed under the top-gallant forecastle, the re- 
moval being followed within less than ten minutes by a haemor- 
rhage, which quickly terminated fatally. 

Other circumstances the same, food, air, light, and attendance, 
I am satisfied that invalids w r ill recover more rapidly on shore 
than in the best possibly regulated hospital-ship. The most 



136 The Sick- Bay. 



extensive experiment of this sort, which had then been made by 
our Government, was the Idaho, to the medical charge of which 
I was appointed in September, 1867. She was a steamship of 
the first rate, from which the machinery had been removed, and 
was stationed at Nagasaki, Japan, " to be used in part as a store 
and hospital-ship for the vessels of the Asiatic squadron." Al- 
though one of the largest vessels in the Navy, (2,638 tons,) she 
proved unfit for this double and incongruous purpose. It was 
originally contemplated to devote the whole main (berth) deck 
to hospital purposes, but the part actually under medical 
control for the use of the sick only extended forward from the 
main-hatch to the water-closets, an area containing twenty thou- 
sand one hundred and sixty cubic feet of air space, within which 
the plan provided for fifty iron bedsteads. I erected, however, 
only forty, of which thirty were usually occupied, each invalid 
even then having only six hundred and seventy-two cubic feet of 
space. This was subsequently further largely intrenched upon 
by the erection of prison-cells for the criminals of the squadron 
on the forward portion of the hospital-deck. Sir J. Ranald Mar- 
tin states, in this connection, that " each man should have from 
fifteen hundred to two thousand cubic feet of air space ; in very 
airy and exposed situations the smaller space will suffice." 
Among the most celebrated modern hospital establishments, the 
Lincoln Army General Hospital supplied fourteen hundred and 
forty-seven cubic feet of air space per man ; the Herbert Military 
Hospital at Woolwich furnishes from twelve to fourteen hundred; 
the Blackburn Hospital at Manchester, seventeen hundred and 
ninety-four; the Lariboisiere, at Paris, from seventeen to nineteen 
hundred; the Boston Free Hospital, sixteen hundred, and the 
Episcopal Hospital at Philadelphia, two thousand. Furthermore, 
according to Hammond, a ward containing twelve hundred cubic 
feet should have its air completely renewed every hour, being at 
the rate of twenty cubic feet per minute, while a supply of thirty 
or forty is preferable. The ventilation of the Idaho was alto- 
gether insufficient, being effected solely through the ordinary 



The Sick- Bay, 137 



small round air-ports, high from the deck, and through the hatch- 
ways, wind-sails being usually conducted through the latter, but 
very often led into the hold beneath the hospital, where an im- 
mense quantity of provisions and steamer-coal were stored, of 
which the gaseous products of decomposition stained the paint- 
work, created noisome bilge-water, and rendered the atmosphere 
offensive. Large square ports through the ship's sides would 
have supplied a greater abundance of fresh air and mitigated 
these evils, but permission to have them cut could not be obtained. 
The sick were further inconvenienced by the incessant noises 
attending the daily evolutions of a man-of-war, which were reg- 
ularly and completely carried on ; by the working of the great 
guns and howitzers; by the exercise of small-arm men and with 
broad-swords and single-sticks ; by the tumult and uproar of di- 
visional and especially of general quarters ; by the receiving and 
discharging of coal and provisions for the squadron which had 
no other outlet nor inlet than directly through the hospital ; by 
the trampling of men overhead ; by the frequent drum-beats ; 
by the shrill whistling and loud bawling of the boatswain's mates ; 
by the trumpet-sounded orders of the officer of the deck; by the 
piping of the side when officers came on board or left the ship; 
and by the loud clanging of the bell striking half-hours in tones 
heard at every bungalow on the neighboring hill-sides. For a 
vessel to be as efficient as possible for hospital purposes it must 
be absolutely disconnected from every other duty, and even then 
it will lack the advantages of the hospital on shore — the quietude, 
space, lightness, airiness, the shaded gardens for exercise, and 
that indescribable influence of the land itself, to which I have 
elsewhere referred. 

When invalids must be treated on board ship, they should be 
sent on shore for exercise, under proper surveillance, as soon as 
convalescent. They who have this privilege will return to duty 
much sooner than those restricted to the ship. I have seen men 
slowly lingering weeks and months in a dark, stifling sick-bay in 
the bows, hanging in a greasy hammock, wrapped in soiled 



138 The Sick- Bay. 



blankets, without sheets or other pillow than their boots or pan- 
taloons, a dull-looking tin pint-pot of cold, nauseous tea or coffee 
and a piece of hard-tack, or a black tin pan containing a chunk 
of salt meat, stuck on a beam beside them, who were ultimately 
invalided and discharged from the service, who, comfortably cir- 
cumstanced on a light airy deck, in a clean cot, between white 
sheets and properly bathed and fed, w T ould soon have been able 
to have been carried on deck in a chair, for an hour's exposure 
to the sunshine, then taken on shore by a nurse for daily exercise, 
and finally discharged to duty. The medical officer should not 
detain a man on the sick-list a day longer than is necessary. His 
paramount duty is to maintain the perso?i?iel of the vessel in the 
most efficient condition, and when this is deranged to restore it 
without delay. No man, however, should be returned to duty 
until fully able to perform the w r ork required of him, and any phy- 
sician who could be guilty of such a violation of professional 
trust would justly deserve the contempt of his brethren and the 
scorn of all good men. 

The practice of indiscriminate invaliding is exceedingly demor- 
alizing. Men, in order to get away from ships which they dislike, 
feign sickness, or> when really ill, endeavor to retard their recov- 
ery; and, if discharged from the sick list, present themselves 
again and again at the dispensary, seeking to establish such a 
reputation for physical inability or worthlessness as w T ill accom- 
plish their object of getting surveyed and sent home. There are 
not a few officers in the Navy, professing valetudinarians, who 
offer themselves as candidates for survey whenever disagreeable, 
arduous, or dangerous duty is assigned them, and who, through 
the good nature, credulity, or negligence of the medical boards, 
generally gain their end. Not the least evil attending the inva- 
liding of numbers of a crew is the necessity of ■ shipping other 
men on a foreign station to supply their places, and experience 
has shown that a very large proportion of such recruits very soon 
themselves come under treatment for constitutional diseases which 
were undiscoverable, and which they swore did not exist, at the 



The Sick- Bay. 139 



time of shipment, During the past summer I received a letter, 
dated at Callao, from Dr. John S. Kitchen, the surgeon of the 
United States steamship California, en route to join the Pacific 
fleet, stating : " We have on board six chronic diarrhoeas and two 
epilepsies from the St. Mary's, all enlisted on this coast within 
six or eight months. Every one of them acknowledged that he 
had the disease before enlisting." Hence, a system of properly 
organized temporary hospitals on shore, at the headquarters of 
the several stations, will save the Government a large expendi- 
ture of money, and an enormous waste of excellent physical ma- 
terial. Men, however, who have actually succumbed to climatic 
influences, should be sent home, not by " the first public convey- 
ance," which may necessitate months of waiting, but by the ear- 
liest opportunity, without regard to expense; since the sooner 
they are removed from the deleterious climate, the sooner they 
will be able to do duty elsewhere. - 

The proper treatment of malingering, which is especially com- 
mon on board ships to which inexperienced medical officers are 
attached, should occur to every educated physician. 



SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR 

THE NAVY. 



I have epitomized the proposed set of sanitary regulations 
which follow from the suggestions briefly tendered in the fore- 
going pages, and submit them to my associates in the medical 
corps, and to such commanding officers as may be willing to 
apply to them the test of experiment, with a view to the ultimate 
institution by the Department, if not of these rules, of others 
which may better accomplish the hygienic objects desired. 

Dryness, coolness, fresh air, sunshine, cleanliness of body, 
clothes and bedding, good food, pure water, temperance, refresh- 
ing sleep, occupation, exercise, cheerfulness, and contentment of 
mind are not only the best anti-scorbutics, but anti-dysenteries, 
anti-febrincs, and anti-morbifics in every sense. The hygienic 
precautions I have suggested receive an indorsement of unques- 
tionable value from the following recommendations by Hennen, 
which, though intended for soldiers, are based upon those same 
general laws of health by which the human body is governed as 
well at sea as on land: "The true preventives to disease are 
shelter from the heat of the day, and from the dews and cold of 
night, avoiding the neighborhood of marshes, allowing men nat- 
ural sleep, allowing vegetables in due proportion, a comfortable 
breakfast before duty in the morning, the daily exposure of bed- 
ding to the sun, the change of clothing after hot and rainy 
weather, flannel waistcoats or cotton shirts, frequent bathing, 
daily washing of the feet, and the serving out of spirits only in 
the evening." " If it be true, as it undoubtedly is," concludes 
Guy, in a review of the meliorating influences exerted by sanitary 
science upon the British navy, " that by improvements in diet, 
water supply and ventilation, in clothing and cleanliness, aided 



Sanitary Regulations for the Navy. 141 

by superior medical treatment, and especially by vaccination, 
and by an improved discipline, tempered by mental culture and 
amusement \ if it be that these improvements and reforms have 
saved life and prevented sickness to such an extent, that the 
effective force of our NaVy has been more than doubled, that one 
ship, for every purpose of navigation and warfare, is at least 
equal to two of the same size and force, that a vessel can now 
keep the sea for twice or thrice the time that was possible less 
than a century ago ; if it be true that, at the old rate of mortality, 
all Europe could not have furnished the seamen necessary for 
our defense and safety during the great revolutionary war, then 
it is a mere waste of words to argue that health, which is the 
strength of all who work, is the great source of power to nations 
in their peaceful labors as in their warlike struggles." Blane 
early in the century attributed the improvement in the health of 
the British navy, which even then began to be notable, to the 
cessation of impressment, the issue of an anti-scorbutic ration, 
the increased encouragement to surgeons, and the better enforce- 
ment of medical regulations ; and Inspector General Smart, one 
of the most distinguised of European sanitary authorities, further 
adds : " Since that era, the prevention of diseases among seamen 
has not been neglected; medical influence has continued its exer- 
cise with immense advantage to the sea-service. Peculiar hurts, 
wounds, and accidents, from which landsmen are exempt, must 
remain forever the special casualties of seamen ; but even these 
may be deprived of much of their fatality. Scurvy and typhus 
have been banished from our Navy returns ; but there still re- 
main, with undue prominence, the reports of yellow fever, syph- 
ilis, rheumatism, and phthisis, which are, however, being re- 
duced under hygienic measures more nearly to general ratios ; 
and when that has been effected, the seaman's life, always haz- 
ardous, will be acceptable on account of its superior healthi- 
ness." If, therefore, commanding officers will listen to and be 
influenced by the advice of medical officers, berth-decks and gun- 
decks will not be incumbered with cots and hammocks, division 



142 Sanitary Regulations for the Navy, 

officers will not have to complain that their guns' crews are in- 
complete, the efficiency of the vessel will be promoted, and when 
emergencies arise, as during the rebellion, when the national 
honor has to be vindicated, there will be a strong, stalwart set of 
zealous men to fight side by side with their officers, and repay 
tenfold those who have had such anxious regard for their health 
and comfort. " But an army in hospital," says Sir Ranald Mar- 
tin, " as at Walcheren, at Rangoon, and in the Crimea — what 
availeth it to the statesman or the commander ? It is an incum- 
brance — a waste — almost a nullity." 

PROPOSED SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR THE NAVY. 
I. 

The greatest care must be exercised in keeping all parts of the 
vessel, especially those below the spar-deck, clean, dry, well 
lighted, and thoroughly ventilated. 

II. 

The berth-deck and covered gun-decks will never be wetted, 
except -for thorough cleaning, and then only on very dry days, 
and not oftener than once a week ; and the operations of clean- 
ing and drying will always be conducted as expeditiously as pos- 
sible. Those men only engaged in the work will be allowed 
upon them, until they are perfectly dry. Hot water will be used, 
wind-sails set, ventilators operated, air-ports and gun-ports opened, 
when not dangerous, and drying-stoves heated. Mere wet-swab- 
bing of the deck will be strictly forbidden at all times, and scrap- 
ing resorted to instead. When a continuance of bad weather 
keeps the berth-deck wet, drying-stoves will be frequently lighted, 
and it will be sanded, as will also be done when any unclean 
work is about being undertaken. 

III. 

Particular care will be exercised in keeping the hold and spirit- 
room dry. They will be thoroughly whitewashed every month, 



Sanitary Regulations for the Navy, 143 

and be frequently ventilated by the introduction of wind-sails 
and ventilators. Whitewash will be used on the beams, bulk- 
heads, and ship's sides of the berth-deck in place of paint. 

IV. 

No casks, boxes, or other articles will be stowed in the hold, 
unless clean and dry. No wet coal, nor wet or green wood will 
be ever sent below the spar-deck. Dry days will be selected for 
provisioning and coaling, unless, the urgent necessities of the 
service, positively forbid delay. 

V. 

All hatches, gratings, and ladders scrubbed or washed on 
other days than those for the general cleaning of the berth-deck, 
will be cleaned and dried in the open air. 

VI. 

Awnings and boom-covers will be promptly spread or housed 
on the occurrence of rain. The men will be required to protect 
themselves by water-proof clothing, and will not be permitted to 
sleep in wet clothes. The watches, when relieved at nighty will 
be required to remove their wet clothes, and deposit them in 
tubs, provided for their reception, where they will remain until 
piped up to dry. Boats' crews, returning wet, will also be re- 
quired to change their clothing. 

VII. 

Particular care will be exercised in sheltering " the head" by a 
hood in rainy weather, and by an awning when the heat is in- 
tense. 

VIII. 

All wet or damp clothing and sails will be exposed to be dried 
without delay. 



144 Sanitary Regulations for the Navy, 

IX. 

When bilge-water has formed, it is to be entirely discharged, 
and fresh water allowed to flow into the vessel. After the lapse 
of an hour this is to be again discharged, and these operations 
will be repeated until the water is brought up free from odor, but 
the quantity of water introduced should never exceed the mini- 
mum indicated by the soundings of the well. 

X. 

Air-ports will be opened and wind-sails set whenever not at- 
tended with positive risk, and the latter will be kept carefully 
trimmed. All the lowermost parts of the vessel (including sail- 
room, yeoman's and officers' store-rooms, etc.) will be frequently 
opened for ventilation. Every effort will be made to maintain a 
free circulation of air forward and aft on each deck. All bulk- 
heads separating apartments or marking subdivisions of the vessel 
will be latticed or grated, above and below, when not at the sac- 
rifice of strength. 

XL 

Ventilators will be placed on board every vessel in the Navy, 
and will be put in operation every night and morning \ and in 
narrow tide-ways vessels will be kept sprung broadside to the 
prevailing wind. 

XII. 

Awnings will be kept spread while the temperature of the at- 
mosphere exceeds 8o°F., except after a continuance of rainy 
weather or during the operations of cleaning the lower decks. 

XIII. 

The exposure of the crew to the intense heat of the sun, espe- 
cially in tropical climates, will be avoided by the performance of 



Sanitary Regulations for the Navy. 145 

all labor or exercise not imperatively called for between these 
hours, before 9 a. m. or after 5 p. m. 

XIV. 

Every man will be required to possess sufficient clothing ' to 
change twice if exposed to wet. 

XV. 

Flannel or woolen garments must be worn next the skin at all 
seasons; and frequent changes of under-clothing and habitual 
neatness and cleanliness of dress must be insisted upon. 

XVI. 

When the weather will permit, at least two wash-days will be 
allowed every week. 

XVII. 

Cleanliness of person will be required of every man. Swim- 
ming will be allowed when practicable ; if dangerous, a tub will 
be placed under the top-gallant forecastle, or the head-pump, or 
port-side of the manger, will be screened and used for general 
ablution. Any unclean man will be compelled to bathe under 
the supervision of the master-at-arms. 

XVIII. 

Firemen and coal-heavers will be afforded especial facilities for 
bathing, which, however, will be interdicted immediately after 
leaving the fire-room. 

XIX. 

Fresh food will be obtained every day, when possible, except 
the stay in port be prolonged, in which case it may be issued four 
10 NH 



146 Sanitary Regulatio?is for the Navy. 

or five times a week. Berth-deck messes will be allowed to carry 
potatoes, turnips, onions, etc., as sea-stores. 

XX. 

The crew will breakfast at 7 a. m., dine at noon, and have sup- 
per at 6 p. m. Hot coffee and biscuit will be issued immedi- 
ately on turning out. All meals, including tea and coffee, will 
be carefully inspected as to character of preparation, and will be 
eaten on deck whenever the weather will permit. 

XXI. 

During a continuance of inclement weather the galley-fire will 
be kept lighted all night, and hot coffee issued to the watches. 

XXII. 

No water for drinking will ever be received on board, nor that 
distilled ever be issued, until it has been examined by a medical 
officer and pronounced potable; and no condensed water will 
ever be passed below into the tanks until properly cooled. 

XXIII. 

Every man will be required to sleep in his own hammock, 
each watch to "lash and carry." In bad weather the hammocks 
of the watch on deck will be kept down on the berth-deck on 
their appropriate hooks or in some dry place. No damp clothing 
will ever be stowed in the hammocks or hammock-nettings. 

XXIV. 

All bedding must be shaken and exposed in the rigging on 
dry, clear days once a week, if possible. 

XXV. 

The watch will not be allowed to sleep on deck in rainy 
weather, nor exposed to dew and currents of air through ports 
and scupper-holes. 



Sanitary Regulations for the Navy. 147 

XXVI. 

The system of steady berth-deck cooks will be discountenanced. 
The yeoman, master-at-arms, ship's corporal, captain of the hold, 
writers, nurses, stewards, cooks, servants, and all others whose 
duties confine them below, will be required to pass a certain por- 
tion of each day in the open air during the hours of daylight. 
Special exercise at great guns, small-arms, single-sticks, rowing, 
and going aloft will be assigned to each of them. 

XXVII. 

Amusements, singing, dancing, gymnastic exercises in the rig- 
ging, sports on deck, boat-sailing, and racing will be encouraged. 

XXVIII. 

Vessels will avoid notoriously unhealthy ports, rivers, or other 
localities, unless upon imperative public service, and in such places 
will anchor a sufficient distance from the shore to be protected 
from malarious influences ; and all boat excursions, hunting par- 
ties, or visits of men and officers on shore after sunset or before 
sunrise, or continuance there all night, will be strictly forbidden ; 
and all boat and shore duty involving exposure to sun and rain 
will be performed, whenever possible, by the natives of the 
country. 

XXIX. 

When the general health of a ship's company shall be reported 
by the medical officers as impaired from anchoring or cruising in 
unhealthy localities, the earliest possible opportunity will be given 
to recruit, by transferring the vessel to some invigorating station, 
and invalids and convalescents from diseases induced by climatic 
influences will be sent to the United States without delay. 



148 Sanitary Regulations for the Navy. 



XXX. 

Medical officers are strictly enjoined to exercise an unceas- 
ing vigilance over the sanitary condition of the vessels of the 
Navy and of the officers and men on board them, and to this 
end to inquire diligently and report to commanding officers, or 
to the Department, everything conducive to, or militating against, 
the health, comfort, and efficiency of each ship's company. 



SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR 
TRANSPORTS. 



The causes that operate to make men-of-war unhealthy exist 
in greater force on board of vessels engaged in transporting troops. 
There is a greater accumulation of filth from the evacuation of 
the contents of the stomach by the sea-sick and of faeces and 
urine by those too lazy or unable to go to the water-closets ; 
there is a more considerable impoverishment of air by the over- 
crowding of men; and the depressing influences of discontent, 
disappointment, and home-sickness operate to a more powerful 
degree upon the soldier than the sailor. The steamers that car- 
ried three-months' volunteers to Annapolis in April, 1861, arrived, 
after only three days' passage from New York, in the most filthy 
condition imaginable, and, had the weather been hotter, or the 
passage a few hours longer, three-fourths of the troops would cer- 
tainly have been disabled. As the military surgeons who accom- 
pany transports are frequently unused to the special exigencies 
of ship life, their labors will, probably, be somewhat facilitated by 
the following suggestions : 

PROPOSED SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR TRANSPORTS. 

I. 

A spacious, convenient, light, well-ventilated part of the vessel 
should be selected for a sick-bay or hospital, which should be 
under the special care of the hospital steward and nurses, and 
whither all invalids, excepting trifling cases able to go on deck, 
should be transferred as soon as reported ill. 

II. 

Besides the regular attendants upon the sick, two or three men, 
not subject to sea-sickness, should be detailed from each com- 
pany to act as a sanitary police, who are to be under the imme- 



150 Sanitary Regulations for Transports. 



diate control of the medical officers. They should be divided 
into three watches and be kept alternately on duty, both night 
and day, in the ordinary succession of sea-watches. They should 
be required to patrol the sleeping quarters of the men, and be 
constantly on the alert to prevent any act of uncleanliness. Sea- 
sick men who vomit or discharge their urine and excrement on 
the deck or in their bunks, should be immediately removed to 
the spar-deck, and the excreted matters at once cleared away. 
The sea-sick should be compelled to remain on deck all the time 
and be placed on mattresses, if too ill to sit up. Compulsory 
exercise by being walked between two men and the compulsory 
ingestion of hot soup or coffee will hasten their recovery. 

III. 

All hands should be called at daylight, and be compelled to 
make up their beds neatly, rolling back the upper blanket to 
expose the interior, and then go on deck. The bunks should be 
carefully inspected every morning, and all wet blankets and cloth- 
ing sent on deck to be dried on clothes-lines. 

IV. 

Clothing and accoutrements should be kept in places assigned 
them, and not be allowed to incumber the bunks. A certain 
hour should be appointed for changing under-clothing, and ac- 
cess denied to it at all other times, except in special cases. 

V. 

The men should be kept on deck all day when possible, but 
never be allowed to lie down or sleep on a wet deck. Awnings 
should be spread forward and aft in hot or rainy weather, and 
the men should be further protected from rain by overcoats, 
which should never be placed in their bunks, but be hung up on 
the bunk-posts, or in a place appointed. 



Sanitary Regulations for Transports. 151 



VI. 

All air-ports should be kept open whenever possible, and wind- 
sails should be set all the time and pointed to every change of 
wind. In rainy weather tubs should be placed under them to 
collect the water. Every transport should be outfitted with ven- 
tilators, operated by hand or machinery. 

VII. 

If the troops remain more than a few days on board, their bed- 
ding should be exposed to the sun and air at least once a week. 

VIII. 

The men should be required to wash their bodies every morn- 
ing, stripping perfectly nude when the weather will permit. If 
the transport cannot supply condensed steam for the purpose, 
salt-water soap should be provided for the ablution of the body 

and for washing clothes. 

IX. 

If the berth-decks are kept perfectly clean they will not require 
to be washed oftener than once a week, and this should be done 
only in dry weather and with hot water, which should be removed 
as rapidly as possible by swabs, squilgees, drying-stoves, etc. 
The beams, bulk-heads, and bunk-posts should be whitewashed 
at the same time. 

X. 

Hot coffee and biscuit should be issued on turning out, 
breakfast at 7 a. m., dinner at noon, and supper at 6 p. m. ; and 
all meals should be eaten on deck, except in very inclement 
weather. 

XL 

The men should be occupied with their proper military exer- 
cises as much as possible, as well as be obliged to assist in work- 
ing ship, hoisting ashes, getting up anchor, etc. 

O 



BBSS 



SSSrafiP 




